Love and Other Lore
by Mike83
Summary: Solitary demon hunter Dani sends her sister a plane ticket for a friendly visit and murder. Things only get more dramatic from there. This story is many things, but *waves hand* this is not the Wincest or Destiel fic you are looking for.
1. We're Gonna Be Friends Part One

July 16th 2006

Somewhere outside Boulder, CO

_"__If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now. It's just a spring clean for the May Queen."_

"That's me," Dani said, giving the gas station clerk a grin, popping the remains of her hot dog into her mouth, and raising her can of Pepsi into a salute before she walked out.

"Yeah?"

"What the hell is this?"

"Oh good, you got the ticket." Dani ignored her sister's lack of greeting. "So...leaving now?"

"Maybe, if you tell me what the fuck this is about."

Dani sighed; it sucked to admit it. "I kind of need your help."

There was no answer, there was only an expectant silence. Dani took a long drink of her soda.

"There's a problem. A job. I thought you might want to give me a hand."

"I'm kind of in the middle of a thing here."

Dani listened to the low rumbling of male voices. "Oh. Far be it from me to ruin your fun, but I kind of think this might be big. And I dislocated my shoulder on a job two days ago, so it might be nice to have some backup, since I'm all wounded and stuff." She chewed her lip, waiting to see if the guilt trip would work.

"Your guilt trip isn't going to work. I actually have a job going here and I'll need at least a week to get out of it."

"Well, this thing is shredding through Arnold, Nebraska pretty quick. It's big news...well, not big... the town is like podunk or something, but it's made the local papers. But fine, do your thing. I'll go alone, with my recently dislocated shoulder. And I might die. What's your thing, by the way?"

"It's kinda science-y. I don't know if you want me to get into it."

"Mm, good point." Dani made a face. "But come on! Can't someone else science it up for you?"

"I don't think you know how to science."

"Come oooooonnnnn! It's been, what? Three years since we've seen each other?"

"It's been a year," Jenny began, and then her words dissolved into giggles. "Stop it," she whispered. "I'm on the phone!"

"That doesn't sound like science," Dani said dryly. "You're lying to me about science."

"I would never lie about science! I can take a small break from science and participate in other activities if I wish!"

"Great! So you'll come out to Colorado then?" Dani cranked her car with a grin and glanced to her left before pulling onto the road.

"I don't have that much time. I have tonight, and that's it."

"Think of the children!"

"What children?"

"I don't know. There are 500 plus people in Arnold. A few of 'em are probably kids."

Jenny gave a long sigh. "Do I have to leave tonight?"

"Yes. It takes forever to get here from where you are." Dani made her voice authoritative.

Her sister gave another sigh, this one infinitely more long suffering. "You have no idea how much sex I'm getting! But I'll give it up for you. Because I do love you."

"I knew it! I'll meet you at the airport in the morning!"

"Why can't I just meet you in Nebraska?"

"Because I'm in Colorado."

"But the job is in Nebraska. By the time I get to Nebraska, you can be there too."

"It's easy enough to pick up 76 and run right in from the airport in Colorado." When her sister didn't seem impressed by the news, she went on, making her voice more pathetic. "I don't want to drive all the way to Nebraska alone!"

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll see you in the morning. In Colorado. So I can ride in your junk bucket."

"Hey now! Sally can hear you!" Dani rubbed the dashboard affectionately. "She didn't mean it, baby."

"I did mean it. I meant every word of it. All two of them!"

"Either way, you'll be in Colorado tomorrow, so I win!" Dani hung up quickly and grinned. One year or three, it had been way too long since she'd seen her sister.

* * *

The next day, she waited impatiently outside the airport terminal, tapping her booted foot on the cracked asphalt and leaning against the Mustang. Maybe there was time for a cigarette before Jenny...nope. Her sister was walking out, a neat black rolling suitcase pulled behind her, her clothes just as impeccable as the bag.

Dani waved when she glanced around the parking area. "Don't tell me you didn't notice the most beautiful car in the lot! Just washed and waxed. Shiny as a new penny." She patted the Mustang's hood affectionately. "And also, I'm wearing a new tee shirt in your honor." She pointed at her, "Never trust an Atom. They make up everything." shirt. "Good, right?"

Jenny grumbled, "Yeah, whatever."

Dani opened the trunk and Jenny tossed her suitcase into it.

"You look nice," Dani offered, opening the car door and sliding behind the wheel. "All fancy." Flattery was the shortest road to...well, anything concerning her sister.

"The benefit of having a real job. With real money. That comes from a real paycheck."

"Yeah, well, I'm free." Dani cranked the car and sang, "Free as a bird now!"

"You're also off key." Jenny said, clearly trying not to grin. Then she joined in the song.

Dani gave her a thumbs up and pulled onto the road.

"Not that it wasn't fun," Jenny said seven hours later when they pulled up at a budget motel. "But why couldn't I have just flown here? Then we could have stayed in a place that's not infested with...something."

"A. Because then you would have missed out on seeing the guy in the tin foil hat at the 7-11. B. Because you would have missed out on hearing how I dislocated my shoulder. And C...I don't have anything else, but I doubt there are any infestations. Other than the thing, that is."

"A. Yeah, tin foil hat guy was pretty funny, I'll give you that. B. You're getting sloppy. I can't even believe you let that demon get the best of you." Dani opened her mouth to protest that the demon was dead and she was alive, but Jenny went on. "And C...please tell me we can go stay in a different hotel because this is awful!"

"Nope. It's the only one in Arnold. It's this..." She gestured at the motel. "Or this." She patted the seat of the Mustang.

Jenny sighed disdainfully.

"That's what I like to hear," Dani said, opening her door and grabbing her duffle bag, then pulling her sister's suitcase out of the trunk. "What's in here? Bricks?"

"They're called books. And if I'd known that you didn't want to research, I wouldn't have brought them."

"Do I ever want to research?" Dani asked, pulling open the door and walking inside, where she nearly choked on the stale cigarette smoke that permeated the lobby. "See?" she said, rubbing her nose vigorously. "Nice, right?"

Jenny nodded in a defeated way and Dani tapped the bell on the desk and leaned against the counter.

"Not only are there numerous and luxurious amenities, the service is top notch," Jenny said, giving her sister a thumbs up that radiated pure sarcasm when no one answered the ring.

"Well..." Dani said, trailing off and smacking the bell again, this time with feeling.

The door opened and Dani glanced over her shoulder at the two guys who had walked in.

"Please tell me that you work here."

"Uh, no, sorry," the taller one answered, holding up a duffle bag as if proving his status as a fellow traveler.

The other guy stepped up and smacked the bell authoritatively.

"Yeah, I tried that," Dani said. "Shockingly, it didn't summon anything either living or dead."

Jenny snorted derisively, but Dani noticed the way her eyes kept traveling over the bell smacker. She caught her sister's eye and raised her eyebrow with a grin. He was pretty cute. Dani wagered with herself that Jenny would wait no less than 24 hours before tapping that.

Jenny rolled her eyes in response. "I'm going to go find someone who resembles an employee."

"Good thinking," Dani said, propping on the desk again and hitting the bell once more for good measure.

"So," the bell smacker asked casually. "What brings you ladies to Arnold?"

Dani allowed her expression to slide from polite interest to deep sadness. "Funeral. Our uncle Bart just passed away."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the taller man said. He actually looked sorry, even though he didn't know her from Adam. It was a little heartwarming, even if Uncle Bart was completely fake. Still, she had to sell it. There was no other reason to go to Arnold.

"Yeah, yeah, it was so..." Dani swallowed hard. "I can't say it was sudden and in a way, I guess it was a blessing." A tear spilled down her cheek and she wiped it away with the back of her hand, giving them both a shaky smile. "But you know how it is, when you love someone, you just never expect to...to...lose them."

Jenny walked back over. "I couldn't find any...are you crying?"

Dani put on a brave face and squared her shoulders. "Just thinking about Uncle Bart. I don't know how I'm going to get through the funeral tomorrow."

"I didn't think you were that close to Uncle Bart."

"Not as a kid," Dani said. "But you know how it was after Aunt Lisa died."

"Pretty sure Aunt Lisa hated you."

"Which is why Uncle Bart loved me so much." Dani sighed. Sometimes her sister just refused to play along. "And seriously? No employees?" She turned around and walked back behind the counter. "What do you think? Any room number in particular that you...stop googling things! This is it, dang it!"

"It really is," the taller man said. "I've looked."

"This place is charming as hell," the other guy said. "I don't know what you're complaining about! Look at those couches! Vintage."

"Pure vintage!" Dani agreed. "See, this guy's smart. I'll give you a nice room."

"If by vintage you mean dirty..." Jenny said.

"Charmingly worn," Dani corrected.

"Um...what are you doing?" a man asked from behind Dani.

"Oh, now that I'm getting the hang of it, you show up," Dani said, grudgingly stepping out from behind the counter so that the sleepy eyed employee could take over. It was 3 in the afternoon, for Pete's sake. "We need a room," she pointed from herself to Jenny and then continued, "And I guess this couple wants one too."

"Couple of brothers," the taller one said quickly. "We're not...we're brothers."

The clerk shrugged and took the cash Dani held out, exchanging a key after she signed in.

"Catch you guys later," Dani said, giving them a grin and pulling Jenny and her suitcase after her.

"Yeah, hey, we didn't uh, catch your names," bell smacker said.

"Dani Van Halen. This is Jenny. And you?"

"Jim Morrison," the bell smacker answered, appraising her quickly. He'd had a feeling about her from the minute he met her and that almost confirmed it. She was a hunter too. "This is my brother, Van." If she took the bait, he'd be sure.

Dani cocked her head to the side for a second and then said, "Okay. Good to meet you guys."

"I think we should probably get going," Jenny said. "We've got that big day tomorrow...dealing with the funeral and such."

"Right," bell smacker...Jim...said, "Well...have fun."

The taller brother, Dani was prepared to accept that much of their story if nothing else, smacked fake Jim on the shoulder.

"Dude, they're going to a funeral," he said in a undertone.

"Right, right...uh, condolences." He gave them an insincere smile and turned back to the desk clerk as Dani pulled open the door.

"I don't care who he is," Jenny said as they opened the hotel room door. "Or who he says he is, I'd do him anyway."

"They're both pretty cute."

"Yeah, but Van seems kind of like an oversized puppy."

Dani laughed as she flopped onto the bed furthest from the door. "Thank God he's about seven feet tall, or I wouldn't have been able to resist ruffling his hair."

"So what do we know about this thing?" Jenny asked, turning the subject.

"Well," Dani said, sitting up again. "People around here keep getting carved up." She pulled several printouts from her pocket and handed them to her sister. "See? Three families in the past month. The only connection I can see is that they all had high school students, and all of them were butchered. It sounds like it was pretty graphic."

"We should probably check out the houses, talk to the neighbors."

"Yeah, two of the houses are empty now, but one of them is still occupied...whatever it was missed the mom. I'm thinking we check out the empty houses tonight."

"All right. Then I'm taking a nap." Jenny plopped down on the other bed. "With any luck, the Morrisons will stay out of our way."

"Maybe they're normal guys. You know...on vacation. In Arnold. Nebraska. Corn huskers for the win!" She didn't believe what she was saying for one second. Dani had a feeling about them. They were either cops or they were just like her. Either way, she didn't want them hanging around messing up her investigation.

"Uh huh." Jenny closed her eyes. "If they do get in our way, maybe I'll get stuck alone with Jim."

"You're all hopeful sounding," Dani said with a smile. If Jenny ended up alone with fake Jim in the next 24 hours, Dani could smoke an extra cigarette.

Jenny nodded and then dropped off to sleep. Dani decided that a shower that didn't involve a truck stop bathroom would be a nice thing. She gathered her soap and shampoo and resolutely ignored the odd stains in the corners of the tub. The shower itself was pretty good. The water pressure left a little something to be desired, but the hot water was everything it should be.

Once she'd dressed in clean clothes and dried her hair, she turned on the television, lowered the volume so that she didn't disturb her sister, and propped herself against the headboard while she waited for night to fall.

* * *

Dani turned into the driveway, swigging down the last of her Pepsi. "So, this is...a beautiful car," she trailed off when she saw a gleaming black Impala parked in front of the split level house. She got out from behind the wheel and walked over, eyeing it reverently. "Oh wow. It's pure lovely."

Jenny sighed. "You have a car! It's right there. You're going to make it jealous."

"Sally knows I have needs."

They walked up to the house and Dani stepped back to allow Jenny to pick the lock.

"I could just kick the door in," she said after a second. "I finally learned how."

"Shhhh!" Jenny said and seconds later, the door swung open.

"Good job, little sister."

Jenny shushed her again and waved her into the house.

"Pretty standard so far, right?" Dani whispered as they looked around. "Happy family pictures, evidence of healthy habits." She pointed at a tennis racquet leaning against the wall. "See anything?"

"Not yet," Jenny began and then she slipped and fell on her ass with a sound thud.

Dani laughed and then clapped her hands over mouth to muffle the noise. "Are you okay? What is that?"

"It's so gross!" Jenny sobbed. "It's soooooo gross!"

"Yeah, it stinks too," Dani said unsupportively. "You should get up."

"Help me up."

"But you're covered in...stuff."

"I thought you loved me!"

"Fine." Dani extended her hand and tugged Jenny to her feet. "Ew. Ew. Ew. Oh! You know what I bet this is?"

"Other than disgusting? I need a moist towelette!"

"Fresh out sweetheart," Dani drawled. "And this is shifter stuff. You slipped in shifter stuff. Slippery shifter stuff."

"Impressive, Van Halen," a voice said from a dark corner.

"Yeah, well...I liked it." Dani wiped her hand on her jeans and then made a face. "The alliteration, not the shifter stuff. So what brings Jim and Van to this...wait. Is that your Impala out there?"

Jenny rolled her eyes.

"What? It's a beautiful car and if it's not spoken for I'm taking it with us."

"It's mine," Fake Jim said quickly.

"It's beautiful. I can't believe I missed seeing it at the hotel."

"Yeah, I parked her down the street," he said with a nod at his brother. "He was sure he'd find another hotel before we walked all the way to that one. He was wrong."

"Yeah, it's the only one in the whole town," Dani said with a shrug. "And frankly it's fantastic. It's got magic fingers!"

"Right?" Fake Jim said enthusiastically.

"Well magic fingers don't mean shit if you don't have someone to share them with! Or if you're covered in bedbugs and...oh my God. I'm covered in shit." Jenny stomped away to look for a towel.

"So," Fake Van said. "You want to tell us why you're out here?"

"Not if it's not obvious," Dani answered honestly. They weren't trying to arrest her, so they weren't cops. Which meant that they were after her job. She wasn't going to make it easier for them.

Jenny came back with a towel and said, "We're hunting. Duh."

"And I'm thinking that you guys are too," Dani said. "I'm not buying this Morrison business."

The brothers ignored her attempt to get information.

"So, we know what it is," Dani said, ignoring them right back. "Why this family?"

Jenny handed her a small photograph. A very pretty girl about fifteen years old smiled out of the shattered, blood covered glass.

"Pageant girl?" the taller one asked, looking over Dani's shoulder. "Hey, I think that...hang on a second."

He pulled some notes out of his pocket and smoothed them out, squinting in the sudden light of his brother's flashlight.

"Yeah," he said, skimming the pages. "Melissa Turner was part of the homecoming court at Lincoln High. The second victim, Sandra Bowman, was the junior winner and the third vic, Natasha Regan, was the homecoming Queen."

"So...shifter hates pageantry?" Dani asked, her annoyance with them fading in the face of important information.

"Sounds more like jealousy," Jenny said quietly.

"When do shifters start...shifting?" Dani asked. "Do you think this is actually a high school kid?"

"Seems likely," Fake Van said, still going over his notes, angling them down so that Dani could see too. "Next step is to talk to the mother."

"Hey!" Dani protested. "This is my investigation."

"'Fraid not," Fake Jim answered.

"'Fraid so," she countered.

"Based on what? You didn't even know the pageant stuff."

"Yeah, but got to the motel first." Dani crossed her arms and tapped her boot on the floor. It made a squelching noise because of the shifter skin, but it got her point across.

"That doesn't-" the taller one began.

"No, no," Fake Jim answered. "She's got us there. But I think that you might find that we're a little better at interrogation than you."

"Based on what?" Dani demanded.

"Arrogance maybe?" Jenny suggested. "Why exactly can't we work together on this?" She asked looking 'Jim' up and down, "It isn't as if this is a contest. Lives are kind of at stake here."

"Don't you think that four people are a lot to converge on the one survivor of this attack?" Fake Van asked.

"Yeah maybe," Dani said. "But Jenny has a trustworthy face." She pointed helpfully at Jenny's face. "She can always get the people to talk."

"Not to mention actual training in the interrogation department. I kind of read tells professionally." She shrugged. "But I didn't mean that we all had to go talk to the mother together… someone needs to talk to the other girl too… a high school homecoming court should have four girls wearing sparkly crowns that this shifter would have been jealous of, who was the freshman princess?"

"Becky Morgan," Fake Van answered readily.

"So, you're saying that we work together, but we split up?" Dani asked, leaning against the couch and chewing her thumbnail as she eyed the brothers. "Should we vote on this, or what?"

"I vote that you two princesses go on home and let the adults take care of this," 'Jim' replied. The last thing he needed was them messing up his investigation.

"So, what you're saying is that you want to go talk to a bunch of high school girls by yourself?" Jenny scoffed. "I had you made as a pervert the second I saw you."

"Creeper," Dani said under her breath, but loud enough for him to hear.

"That's not what I said!" 'Jim' sputtered. "Sam… I mean, Van… tell these ladies what an upstanding citizen I am."

"I...you do want to go to the school, don't you?" Sam asked, shaking his head when Dean only shrugged in a what are you gonna do kind of way. "What about a compromise? One of us goes with one of them and I get the school."

"Yep, because I came all the way from Japan to be tied together with a pervert." Jenny muttered. "I'm going to see the mother, who's driving me?" She asked as she made for the door.

"Pervy McPerverson I guess," Dani said. "But I think we should go back to the motel first. Lay our cards on the table, you know?"

"Gambling? Tsk." Jenny shook her head playfully. "If that is what you think is best; it's your job after all."

"And I'm damn good at it," Dani said. "I got Fake Van's real name in less than 24 hours, didn't I?"

"That is because Jim is an idiot." Jenny giggled. "But sure, I'll give that one to you."

"Dean," Sam said, determined not to be the only one under the bus. "His name is Dean."

"Thanks, Sammy," Dean muttered.

"Aw… they're so cute together." Jenny giggled mischievously. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah. We should keep them." Dani grinned and pushed Sam into the Mustang. "You ride with me so I know that we both end up in the same place. And you," she pointed at Dean. "Drive careful. She's important both to the future of this investigation and to me."

Dean watched ruefully as Dani drove off with his brother in tow. "Come on, kid." He growled and slid into the drivers seat of the Impala. Jenny plopped into the passenger side and smiled wryly at Dean's discomfort.

"Got the separation anxiety there, buddy?" She asked

"What?" Dean asked.

"You know, if you aren't careful, people are going to get the wrong idea about you two." She giggled.

"What!?" He asked, looking at her in horrified disbelief.

"Just sayin'." She shrugged and they rode the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

"You drive like a granny," Dani said, allowing Dean to walk past her into the motel room. "I got here a whole lot faster than you."

"You're terrifying," Sam corrected before walking over and putting both hands on Dean's shoulders. "I swear to you, Dean, I will never complain about your driving again."

"Damn right you won't. You shouldn't be complaining in the first place, bitch."

"You're overcompensating," Jenny said helpfully and Dean shot her an angry look.

"So, who's hungry?" Sam asked quickly.

"Are you buying?" Dani asked pragmatically. "Because if so, I am. If not, I'm good."

"Scrooge," Jenny teased. "I can pay for yours if you've been down on your luck."

"Oh yeah. I always forget that you've got money now. Sounds good to me then...pool hasn't been paying off lately. I keep running into guys more interested in watching me bend over the table than the friendly competition. I am so tired of kicking guys in the nuts."

"Uh huh. You little slut." Jenny winked.

"That's me. Oh! There's a gas station down the road. We could get hot dogs!"

"Ugh." Jenny sighed.

"Hot dogs? Do they have pie?" Dean asked seriously.

"Obviously they have pie," Dani said. "Have you ever been to a gas station that didn't have pie? Let's get some pie, too!"

"I… do we have to eat from… I don't wanna… ugh…" Jenny muttered, following everyone as they left her behind.

"There's a diner," Sam said. "We passed it coming in, remember?"

"Yeah, so?" Dean asked, pulling his keys from his pocket.

"So we could eat real food," Sam pointed out.

"Real food sounds really good." Jenny nodded emphatically.

"Okay," Dani said with a sigh, seeing how eager Jenny was to eat somewhere that wasn't a gas station. "We have eaten at the gas station twice today...and it is your money. We can go to the diner."

"Yay!" Jenny squealed. "I love you so much!" She wrapped her arms around Dani in a bear hug, pressing their cheeks together. "You're my favorite sister!"

"Shut up, Jenny, I know it," Dani said with a grin.. "So...Impala?"

Sam looked from Dani to Jenny and then glanced at Dean, clearly confused.

"What?" Dani asked.

"What?" Jenny asked. "We're practically twins."

Dean snorted. Sam shrugged. Dani suddenly realized what their confusion was and held back a grin. This part was always fun.

She raised an eyebrow and said, "What? It's so obvious."

"I mean, yeah, sure," he said. "I can, um, see the, uh, the resemblance."

Dean looked at him blatant disbelief. One of the girls standing in front of them was average height, with shoulder length hair that didn't seem to be any particular color. She had blue eyes and several facial piercings, which he found sexy as hell. She was dressed in what he considered work clothes: worn and faded jeans and a black tee shirt with a scuffed leather jacket over it. She also wore motorcycle boots. All together, it was a very nice, all American package. The other girl was prettier, shorter by about 4 inches, skinnier by at least a few sizes, and Japanese. Clearly, obviously, no questions asked, Japanese. There was no way in hell that those two were sisters.

"Is it the Japanesity that's throwing you off?" Jenny asked.

Sam glanced at Dani, clearly hoping for her to save him. She gave a good natured shrug. "I always forget. If you must get technical, I'm the best half sister in the world."

Jenny nodded emphatically.

"So, now that we've figured out that I'm related to the hot Japanese chick, can we please go eat?" Dani asked. "In the Impala? Pretty please?"

Jenny patted her sister on the head. "You can't say no to that."

"I thought we were splitting up," Dean said gruffly. "How about Sam rides with me, you two ride with each other? Then we can go our separate ways after dessert."

"Because your car is a thing of beauty and riding in it would be a joy forever," Dani said with a look at the long black vehicle. It was all she could do not to drool. A person just didn't find many Impalas on the road anymore. Especially not in such good condition.

"Well…" Dean looked a little abashed at the compliment. "I can't deny that. All right, just this once."

"Don't spoil her." Jenny scolded. "She needs to know her limits."

"That's crazy talk," Dani said with a wave of her hand as she slid into the car. "This is all original isn't it?" She gasped in surprise, running her hand over the seat.

"You know your upholstery." Dean nodded appreciatively from behind the steering wheel.

"I know my American muscle cars," she corrected. "You are one lucky son of a bitch, by the way."

"Yeah well…" Dean grinned and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Are you blushing?" Sam asked, suddenly leaning forward and looking at his brother intently.

"Of course not," Dean replied quickly, forcing his face into a scowl as he looked at the road in front of him. "It's just nice to finally hear some decent praise for the car that works for us day in and day out, Sammy. Take some notes."

"I know how you feel," Dani said. "My sister called Sally a junk bucket." She pointed at the Mustang as Dean pulled out of the parking lot. "I think she was kidding but it still...it hurts, you know? Gets you right here." She thumped her fist over her heart.

"I wasn't kidding." Jenny shrugged. "I'm used to luxury cars, you know."

"Luxury cars are a waste of road if you ask me." Dean scoffed.

"Super comfy wastes of road." Jenny sighed. "And filled with men with money."

"So are bars," Dani pointed out. "Filled with men with money I mean. What about you, Sam?" She turned around and looked at him with a smile. "Where do you stand on the luxury vs. perfection argument?'

"I guess I can see both sides," Sam began.

"If you're not with me, you're against me." Dani gave a sad shake of her head before turning back to talk to Dean about horsepower.

"So," Sam said, that avenue of conversation clearly gone. Maybe he'd have better luck with the other sister. "What is it that you do, Jenny?"

"I'm a consultant," she said simply.

"Oh. Okay." His luck had not improved.

"What kind of consultant?" Dean asked bluntly.

"Oh, I guess I'm just a higher rated hunter." Jenny shrugged. "I do the things that you do, only better and I get paid for them."

"Paid?" Dean asked, to incredulous about getting paid to hunt to be more than a little offended at the fact that she was saying she was better than him. He wasn't the one who had landed on his ass in shifter goo. "By who?"

"The government," she said.

"That's why she makes the big bucks," Dani said, giving Jenny a smile. "She even has health insurance!"

"Yep, dental and all." She beamed at her sister.

"It's impressive...Way more impressive than this diner, by the way," Dani said as they pulled up in front of the place and took in the view. The tin roof was rusty and the rust had tracked like copper tears down the sides near the downspouts. The wooden handrail looked rickety at best and like attempted murder at worst and the windows were foggy.

"Well, it has to be better than convenience store crap," Jenny muttered.

"Who cares as long as they have pie and cheeseburgers?" Dean got out and slammed his door.

"I'm not going to admit it to him," Dani muttered to Jenny. "But that sounds perfect."

"Are you going doe eyed for him?" Jenny asked with a wry grin.

"They always do." Sam sighed from behind them. "Rumor has it that he has," He made air quotes. "A perfect face."

"But you look like a puppy," Dani said, wanting to make him feel better. From his heavy sigh, she could tell that she'd been off the mark. "Anyway, no, I'm not going doe eyed for Dean. I just like his car and his food choices." She held the diner door open for her sister.

"I'm sure he has more going for him than just his face, car and eating habits." Jenny winked and slid into a booth.

"Hmmmm," Dani said speculatively, sliding into the other side of the booth.

Dean sat down beside Dani and Sam dropped down beside Jenny. Sam was surprised that Dean hadn't made a bigger play for Jenny, personally. She was...well, hell. She was a busty Asian beauty.

The waitress walked over slowly, looking down at her order pad.

"What can I getcha?" she asked in a monotone.

"Pepsi," Dani said.

"Coke okay?" the woman asked.

"Would you substitute heaven for hell?" When the waitress didn't even react Dani sighed. "Make mine coffee."

"Water with lemon." Jenny said.

"We don't have lemon."

"But you do have water, I hope," Jenny responded sweetly.

"Sure. And you boys?" The woman looked back and forth between them.

"Coffee," they answered.

She started to shuffle away but Dean said, "And you have pie, right?"

"Apple and cherry," she said without looking over her shoulder.

"She's my cherry pie," Dani sang under her breath.

"Taste so good make a grown man cry," Dean responded.

"Sweet cherry pie!" they sang together.

"Oh no." Jenny dropped her head to the table. "I had to listen to this all the way from Boulder."

"I had to listen to that for 18 years," Sam said sympathetically. "And now I've come full circle and the music hasn't changed."

"There's a jukebox." Jenny said enthusiastically. "Move! I'm going to put on something to make the horror go away!"

"Hey!" Dani said as Sam stood up to let Jenny leave her seat. "That was some beautiful music!" Her sister ignored her. "For the love of God, no J-pop!"

"I wasn't gonna… as if they'd have that here." Jenny made a face at her sister. "Why don't you come help me pick something good?"

"For the good of the land, I shall." Dani pushed Dean's shoulder and he stood up. "Any requests?"

Dean grinned. "Anything from before 1985 should be fine."

She gave him a thumbs up and walked over to Jenny. "So. What do you think of them? And this?" She discovered that the ride in the Impala had soothed her worries about the brothers "Morrison" interfering with the investigation.

"I think that it could end up being… entertaining if we work with them, but don't expect me to count on them," Jenny said, pushing the sticky buttons on the jukebox forcefully with a grimace.

"No, counting on them would probably be silly," Dani agreed. "And what in the sweet hell is on this jukebox?"

"I'm trying not to think about it." Jenny rubbed her fingers on Dani's shirt and turned to walk back to the table, then stopped. "Hey… seriously, do you have your eyes on the chiselled one? Because I think he kind of likes you."

"You don't think they both could qualify as...okay, yeah, they don't both qualify as chiselled do they? We should give them nicknames so we can talk about them right to their faces. It'll be like high school all over again." Dani wasn't sure how to answer the question. She liked Dean. A lot more than she'd liked anyone she'd just met in a long time. But she was pretty used to not getting involved. And she wasn't prepared to give it up over a shared love of good music, classic cars, and pie. And she'd never really been into the cocky type. In the end, she'd sort of be dating herself. She wasn't quite ready for a trip that far down the narcissism hole.

"What do you have in mind?"

"I dunno. Milo and Otis? Snoopy and Woodstock? Moose and squirrel?"

"Well, at least we know which would be which! But would they?" Jenny grinned. "Milo and Otis brings back good memories… do I want these two to ruin that for me? You pick." She patted her sister on the head. Dani gave them a once over, considering the options.

* * *

"I think that the cute one likes me," Dean said conspiratorially to his brother.

"Which one's the cute one?" Sam asked, glancing over his shoulder at the girls. "They're both pretty."

"The one with the piercings." Dean grinned. "I bet she's a naughty little thing in the bedroom."

"Come on, Dean. There's no way you can know that based on a few lip rings."

"It is a well supported fact that girls with piercings are more… active when it comes to their sexual needs and desires," Dean said somberly.

"You...no it's not! And anyway, what makes you think she wants you?"

"Did you see the way she was petting the Impala?" Dean said knowingly. "That was just begging for it."

"In what universe is that begging for it?" Sam crossed his arms and leaned back, eyeing his brother. There had to be at least one woman on the face of the Earth who didn't want Dean. If opposites really did attract then the girl with the piercings had to be the one. Anyway, he thought she was really cute and he didn't want Dean getting his cooties all over her.

"This one, Sammy!" Dean said. Then he rethought the situation."Or did you want to… get a piece of that? I thought you were more of a girl next door type, but I'm willing to let you have this one."

"Let me have this one?" Sam repeated, his voice rising in indignation. "I don't need you to let me have girls, Dean!"

"Aw, don't be like that. I know that I radiate smooth sexuality, but you don't have to be jealous."

"Jealous of what? The way she wants you drive her around and get crappy pie?"

"What?" Dean asked incredulously. "I think you need to get your eyes checked because she was definitely asking for more than a piece of pie."

"Yeah," Sam scoffed, opening his menu and wrinkling his nose when his fingers were instantly sticky. "We'll see."

The bassline for 'Legs' filled the air and the girls came back over to the booth. Sam gallantly stood up for Jenny to let her back in and she flashed him a big grin.

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome," Sam said. "And if you know what's good for you, you will not touch the menu." He slid his over in front of her so she could see the uninspiring list of choices.

"Not even one salad." She sighed. "I guess a salad from here probably wouldn't be the best idea anyway." She sighed again.

"Salads are...salads are silly," Dani said. "Look at the cheeseburger!" She started to hold up the menu and then remembered Sam's advice. "It looks greasy and delicious."

"I guess I've got no choice in the matter." Jenny groaned and slid the menu back over to Sam.

"You folks ready?" the waitress asked through a yawn.

"Well, we can't keep you on the edge of your seat any longer," Dani said. "It just wouldn't be right. Cheeseburger and fries and a slice of cherry pie and a glass of milk." She held up her cup and said, "And top me off."

"I'll have the same." Jenny said blandly.

"Yeah, me too," Dean said.

"What the hell," Sam said. "Me too."

"What a diverse group we are." Jenny said cheerfully as the waitress walked away. "So, shall we sit here not trusting each other or is actual conversation in order?"

"Actual conversation!" Dani said, taking the last sip of her coffee.

"Well," Jenny prompted. "Do go on then."

"Oh, I'm starting? Okay fine. My name really is Dani," she said, shifting in her seat so that she faced Dean and Sam. "I never lie about my first name. I'm 25...I have one sister...Um...this is hard to do, dang it. I pretty much only introduce myself to things that end up dead lately. What about you?"

"Sounds familiar, only without the lying about our first names part." Dean nodded. "How long have you been hunting?"

"Ummmm, well, it's hard to say. I killed my first demon when I was seventeen. It took me a little while to figure out that it was a lot more common than people would have you believe. I started doing it full time about two years after Jenny left me." She threw puppy dog eyes at her sister and then smiled in a take over the conversation for the love of God way.

"I went to school," Jenny said, seeing how uncomfortable her sister was getting while everyone looked at her. "My dad does this thing for a living so I went to Japan to study near him. Well, that and because their government is a lot more willing to pay for odd occurrences. And the guys… so many hot guys that have all of the money. And I'm pretty spoiled but you'd have figured that out soon enough I suppose."

"You're all of the spoiled," Dani corrected with a grin.

"Don't agree with that," Jenny scolded playfully. "It's rude."

"She's adorably accustomed to living in fabulous wealth," Dani rephrased. "Better?"

"Thank you." Jenny beamed. "Now… you go." She looked expectantly at the men.

"Well, Sammy went the college route," Dean said. "I kind of took up the family business. At least till lately when shit's gotten pretty damn weird."

"So what happened to college?" Dani asked Sam.

"It's, uh, it's on hold for right now," Sam said.

"People who say that never go back." Jenny said sadly.

"Well, you never know," Sam said a little defensively.

"It doesn't mean a damn thing to a hunter anyway," Dean said. "I mean, unless you live in Japan...I guess."

"Our uncle lives in Boston and gets paid for it too… I'm pretty sure his multiple MBAs have helped." Jenny shrugged.

"Yeah?" Sam asked. "Maybe we could look into-"

"You don't want to," Dani said shaking her head. "He's great, but you wouldn't believe the paperwork. If I kill a monster all I have to worry about is hiding the body. Jenny has to file things."

"The number of zeroes that fill up the paperwork they have to do for me makes it soooo worth it," Jenny said wistfully. "So many zeroes. But yeah, I guess I fall into the 'carry on the family business' category too. Poor Dani here just kind of got forced into the whole thing."

"Forced?" Dean asked. "How?"

"Well, it was either kill or be killed and...you know what they say. Only the good die young." Dani's lips quirked into a half smile. "It's how I got this." She rolled up the sleeve of her tee shirt to show off the five inch long scar that started at her shoulder and ran downward in a jagged line. "The demon had a worse day though."

"What'd you do?" Dean asked, stretching his arm along the back of the booth and grinning at her. "Shotgun? Knife?"

Dani unwrapped her silverware and held up a bent, dishwasher cloudy fork.

"No shit?" Dean asked.

"None whatsoever," she assured him. "It cornered me in the kitchen and this was the first thing that I could reach. It makes a good argument for not doing your breakfast dishes. And for learning your Latin."

The waitress dropped burgers in front of Sam and Dean and then walked off to get the other two plates. Sam slid his plate down to Jenny.

"Here you go."

"Aw, a gentleman Hunter," Dani said with a grin as Dean took a hearty bite of his own burger.

"Want a fry?" Dean asked once he'd swallowed.

"Yeah," Dani answered, reaching out and stealing two. "Just to piss you off."

"Now, now children. Play nice," Jenny said through a mouthful of burger. "So, I'm thinking I would put money on this shifter being a guy at the school. It seems to be the big connection the vics share : pretty high school girls."

"How do you know it's not just some crazy jealous high school girl?" Dean asked. "Girls get jealous all the time, don't they?"

Dani and Jenny shrugged.

"I don't," Dani said honestly.

"I don't hang out with girls," Jenny pointed out. "All my friends are boys."

"All your friends come with a healthy benefits package," Dani said, taking a sip of her coffee.

Jenny tipped her glass in her sister's direction. "Truer words have never been said."

"I think she's right, Dean," Sam said.

"Have you been spying on me and my friendly activities?" Jenny questioned, pretending to be horrified.

"What? I...no! I was just saying that I agree about the jealousy angle, not, not any of your..."

"Calm down. I was just joking about how you said that right after I said... ugh, it isn't funny if I have to explain it." Jenny sighed, offering her sister the rest of her food.

Dani laughed at Sam's confused expression and took a handful of fries. "Thanks. I'm so hungry!"

"Hang on," Dean said, standing up.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Sam called.

"Relax, Sammy," Dean said. "I'm getting the lady her food."

"It's like he thinks I won't notice that he waited until he was done with his burger," Dani said with a grin.

After the pie and once they were settled back in the Impala, Dani said, "Okay, so tomorrow, you two," she pointed at her sister and then at Dean, "Are gonna talk to the mom and Sam and I will head to the school, right?"

"Right," Sam said.

Dean only nodded.

"Hey," Dani said. "No tricks, okay? I will go crazy ex all over your investigation if you do."

"Crazy ex?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow. "What's that look like?"

"It's not a good look," Dani said with a sigh. "But I wear it well."

"Yeah, well, you can trust me for at least one night," Dean said as he pulled the car into the parking space in front of his room door.

"That's awesome," Dani said with a wink. "But it's the morning after that I'm looking for. Thanks for the ride."

**A/N: Jenny belongs to my friend, who can be found here as Gw3nhwyfar. She is doing this to humor me, so there will be chapters where Jenny does not make an appearance. Other than that, I have nothing important to say, except that if you follow Lend a Hand, there should be a new chapter of that will be up shortly :) It's just that I finally started watching Supernatural and then I got all these ideas…and then I had to write them down and here we are with this.**


	2. We're Gonna Be Friends Part Two

"Good morning, ma'am," Dean said the next morning in a business like tone, having kept his word to Dani despite sort of wanting to know what "crazy ex" looked like on her. "I'm Agent Crosby-Stills, and this is my partner, Agent Nash. We're with the FBI and we just have a few questions for you."

Jenny looked at him incredulously and shook her head. Then she turned to the woman at the door and said, "We apologize. We understand that this has been a very difficult time for you, but if you could just take a few minutes to talk to us, it could really speed up the process of finding the person who did this to you."

The woman stared at them blankly for a few seconds and then opened the door a little wider as she walked further into the house. Dean gestured for Jenny to precede him.

"After you."

Jenny nodded suspiciously at him and followed the mother into the living room.

"I'm sure you've told the local cops everything, but if you wouldn't mind, we'd like to go over it again. What exactly happened the night your daughter was killed?"

The woman took a shuddering breath and began the same story that had been in the papers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sam and Dani were halfway across town, making good time toward the school.

"I hate this suit," Dani muttered, tugging the skirt down closer to her knees. "I look ridiculous."

"No you don't," Sam said, glancing at her once more. He'd been a little annoyed when he'd showed up at her door and found her dressed in running pants, a tank top and sneakers with her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail and sweat gleaming on her face.

"Sorry, sorry," she'd apologized. "But if I don't run in the morning, I never seem to have time later and if I stop running I'll probably gain fifty pounds in a week from all the crap I eat. Hang on, seriously. Fifteen minutes."

He'd been downright shocked when she'd opened his motel room door sixteen minutes later, dressed in a tailored grey pinstripe business suit and heels. Her hair was in a loose bun and she wore just enough makeup to highlight her dark blue eyes and full lips. She'd taken out her piercings and it was still amazing to him that she'd pulled it all together that fast. "You look professional."

"Professionally ridiculous," she countered, even though it made her feel a little bit better when his gaze lingered in the vicinity of her hemline. "But thanks."

"Pretty weird to be back in a high school again," Sam said as the school came into view.

"Yeah, tell me about it," Dani said. "I haven't seen the halls of one of these things since I was 17."

"Graduate early?"

"Graduated not at all."

"Oh. Oh, well, that's okay." Of course it was okay, he chided himself. It wasn't like she needed his permission. "My brother has a G.E.D."

"That puts him one up on me," Dani said cheerfully. "I'm just a good old fashioned dropout."

"I thought you said that you didn't start hunting until after your sister went to college."

"I didn't. I worked for a little while, saved up some money...did some research...learned to shoot...spent about a year hanging out with a friend of mine, learning the ropes."

"Why not ask her dad? You said he was in the business. And what about your dad?"

Luckily, she didn't look annoyed at any of his questions. "Jenny's dad is...kind of a lot to take and we don't always get along." Actually they didn't ever get along, but there was no point in dredging it all up. "And my dad doesn't know about any of this. He's just a regular guy. Ready?"

"Sure thing," Sam said, opening the car door.

Dani wrinkled her nose as they walked through the halls. "All schools smell the same, huh?"

"Yep. Pizza, gym, and hormonal angst," Sam confirmed. "There she is."

"Becky Morgan?" Dani called.

A bottle blonde, stick skinny girl turned around and looked her up and down, a sneer curving her overdone upper lip. "Oh my God. Please don't tell me I don't have to talk to any more cops. It's, like, all I've done for the past month."

"F.B.I, actually," Sam said, pulling his badge out of the pocket of his rented black suit and giving the girl a slight smile. "And we're really sorry, we know you just want to move past all of this."

She glanced up, and up, into Sam's eyes and then smiled. Dani didn't allow Becky to see her roll her eyes and she only followed as Becky led them into an empty classroom.

"Anything you can tell us would be helpful," Sam prompted as Becky took a seat and crossed her legs, twirling her hair around her index finger.

Becky launched into a pile of nonsensical crap. Dani gave it five minutes, hoping something meaningful might come to light. It didn't.

"Okay," she said, cutting in. "That's nice. But what we really want to know is whether the girls had any trouble with anyone before they died."

Becky sighed. "Uh, yeah. I told the cops already."

Sam leaned forward and gave her a smile. "Tell us, Becky."

Becky flashed a triumphant smile at Dani and then transferred her gaze to Sam again. "It was Derek, like I told the others. He asked out every girl in the homecoming court."

"Did any of you say yes?" Dani asked.

Becky laughed. "Are you joking? God no! He's such a creepy little fugmo. They wouldn't have said yes even if he wasn't a freshman."

"So, he asked out three chicks older than him?" Dani asked. "Brave kid."

Becky shuddered. "Whatever. He's still gross and weird. And really poor. I had to sit with him in Math, Science, and History. He was always trying to get me to talk to him. Like I was going to be his first real friend or something? God, it was pathetic."

Sam's smile was forced by now, and Dani knew that she couldn't hide her dislike much longer.

"Could we talk to this kid?" Sam asked, standing up abruptly. "Maybe you'd point us in the right direction?"

"I can't," Becky said, pouting now that it was clear Sam was leaving. "Don't you cops talk to each other? I told them already. He's been missing for over two weeks."

* * *

"So," Dani said tugging Sam into her hotel room and flopping down onto her bed, glancing at Jenny and Dean who had clearly just gotten in themselves. "Oh my sweet Lord, you bought pie. How'd it go for you two?"

"Fairly average. She spent the first half of the interview blaming herself for her family's demise, wished it had been her instead… and then she actually gave us some information… she said some boy had been stalking her daughter. It had gotten to the point where they were going to transfer her to a different school after homecoming was over. I'm thinking that might be our guy. A Derek Maloney." Jenny explained while pushing her piece of caramel pie around a styrofoam plate. "He was a freshman at their school."

"Yeah, Becky mentioned him too. Apparently he stalked every girl in the homecoming court. And he was a...what did she call him, Sam?"

"Fugmo," Sam supplied. "Means ugly."

"Fuuuuuugmoooooo." Jenny played with the word for a couple of minutes before shaking her head. "I don't get kids these days."

"Right?" Dani asked with a sigh. "And man, this Becky chick was a total bitch. I wanted to smack the makeup right off her smug little face."

"She's a freshman too?" Jenny asked. "So, did she have any classes with Fugmo Derek?"

Dani nodded. "Three of 'em. Math, history and..." she glanced at Sam.

"Science," he supplied.

"I'm going to start taking you everywhere I go," Dani said appreciatively. "You're better than a smartphone."

"What, you two are a thing now?" Dean asked, tossing his plate towards the trash bin and missing it completely.

"What?" Sam asked, scooping the plate off the floor and putting it into the trash can.

Dani laughed. "Oh yeah. Investigational skills and puppy dog eyes are all I need in a man. Crap, no offense, Sam."

"You do need investigational skills." Jenny said, offering her sister the rest of her pie. "I'd trade you any day for mister "I don't know how to feel the room before I open my big mouth" over here. Sheesh. The woman was already in tears, Dean."

"For God's sake, they always are," Dean growled. "That's why I drag Mr. Sensitive along."

"Mmm pie," Dani mumbled through her bite. "And what'd you screw up, Winchester?"

"Nothing," Dean muttered as he made his way to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

"He just doesn't know how to talk to people." Jenny sighed. "Would you believe that he actually hit on the mom? Ugh."

"My God, Dean," Sam called in the direction of the bathroom. "Seriously?"

"Was she hot?" Dani asked.

"About a six and a half… maybe a seven." Jenny said half heartedly. "Her hair was bleached and it was obvious she has to wax a mustache… a pageant mom I guess."

"Ew." Dani raised her voice a bit so that Dean would hear her. "If you're going to hit on a grieving mother she has to be an 8 or better! It's in the rules!"

Sam and Jenny nodded in agreement.

"I wasn't hitting on her,"Dean called from the bathroom. "I was trying to console her."

"By asking her if she wanted to get drinks?" Jenny giggled.

"It's all I got," Dean said, coming out of the bathroom with a scowl on his face. "Drinking is the best way to get over death."

"It is surprisingly effective," Dani muttered.

"I prefer hurting things… but it's a personal preference I suppose." Jenny said absently.

"Anyway," Sam said in an effort to change the subject. "Did you guys get anything on the whereabouts of the kid? Because Becky said he hasn't been in school for the past few weeks."

"I looked him up. He lives in government housing. Apparently he's a ward of the state." Jenny said, pulling out her laptop. "His address is 115 Westwood Avenue."

"So, I guess that's our next stop," Dani said. "Want to get it over with?"

Jenny nodded. "As long as I can ride with you."

"Have you been scaring my baby sister with your wicked driving and womanizing ways?" Dani asked Dean with a teasing grin.

"Nope." Was all Dean said in reply.

"Ugh," Jenny said and walked out the door.

"As long as we're all cheerful," Dani said with a shrug. So much for her internal wager. Now she couldn't smoke for the next two days. "See you boys there."

It was a longish drive; it turned out that government housing was on the edge of town. Stupid in Dani's opinion, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"Government housing sucks," Dani said as they pulled up in front of the rundown apartment complex. "I feel kind of bad for this kid, don't you?"

"I've seen worse." Jenny shrugged. "At least he has a place to live."

"Yeah." Dani opened the car door and then leaned against the hood, waiting for the Impala to come into view. "And he butchered a whole bunch of people. But still...and don't you dare mention my moment of weakness to Milo and Otis...I feel bad for him."

"I try not to talk to them as it is, so no worries there." Jenny smiled wryly. "I really can't tell which one you have your sights set on."

"I have no sights," Dani said loftily. "I'm a lone wolf. A free bird. A..." she looked for another analogy and found nothing.

"An independent woman on the cusp of finding herself?" Jenny teased. "Caught in between two men, one surprisingly uncouth for how attractive he is and the other… very tall."

"I like the sound of the "caught in between two men" part," Dani said with a grin. "And Sam's also very cute. And...Dean is...he does have a pretty freaking perfect face. But if he was really hitting on a mustachioed chick, I just don't know how I would ever be flattered by anything he said to me, you know?"

"Exactly. Also, he belches and he doesn't have any incentive. I'm so used to more refined men that I wouldn't know what to do with him." Jenny sighed.

"Well, if you don't know what to do with him, no one does," Dani said, ruffling her sister's hair affectionately. "And yeah, Dean is just as American as," she broke off with a lovesick sigh as the Impala rounded the corner. "As his beautiful car. I think I'm in love with his car."

"And she ran off in the night with the glossy raven Impala as the brothers watched in shock and awe. They could never have satisfied her needs the way 300 horsepower revving under her could," Jenny narrated in a wistful tone.

Dani laughed. "Yep. Just like that."

"What's so funny?" Dean grumbled as he walked over. "We're going to interrogate a murderer here."

"He's just mad because he didn't make the cut," Jenny whispered.

Dani nodded sagely. "It happens. Apparently boys have more jealousy issues than girls after all."

"I bet there will be manly tears over it later," Jenny agreed.

"Um..." Sam began, and then stopped with a shrug. "Okay. So, what apartment is it?"

"13B" Jenny said amicably. "Second floor."

They jogged up the steps and Dean banged on the door. "Open up! F.B.I."

"At least he does that well." Jenny grinned while they waited. "Shall we pick the lock or just bang her down?"

"We _should_ pick the lock," Dani said. "But I totally _want _to kick it down."

"As if you could," Jenny said, pulling out her lock picks and leaning over to work with the knob.

Dani scoffed. "I wouldn't say I could if I couldn't. You're mean." She turned to Dean and poked her finger against his chest. "I blame you. And are you checking out my sister's ass?"

"It's her fault for sticking it out for everyone to see," Dean muttered.

"Oh my God, Dean," Sam muttered.

"What? Don't act like you weren't looking too."

"Okay, let's just say that we can all move forward knowing that Jenny has a great butt and that one of us is disturbed that she had to say it, and act like professionals," Dani said with a sigh.

"And… we are in!" Jenny said, standing up and looking as if she hadn't heard any of their banter. "Shall we?"

"We shall," Dani said, stepping over the threshold and looking around the house. "This is really...um..."

"Depressing?" Sam asked. "Anyone else starting to feel bad for this kid?"

"You mean the mass murdering shifter kid who probably has no parents for a reason?" Jenny asked.

"Yeah..." Sam said, pushing his hands down into his pockets. "I guess when you say it like that..."

Dani patted him on the back. "It's okay. You're the sensitive one; you're allowed to say things like that."

Jenny giggled. "He is, isn't he? Its adorable in a sad kind of way."

"Look," Dean said. "My brother is not adorable, okay? He's...he's..." he trailed off, distracted by the amount of abject shock on his younger brother's face. "What? I'm the only one that's allowed to insult you, damn it!"

"Thanks," Sam said, pressing his hand over his heart. "It means a lot that you're willing to defend my honor."

"Um, we're still here. If you want to start something, at least ask us to leave," Jenny said with a wink before walking around a corner.

"What the hell is up with your sister and her insinuations?" Dean demanded.

Dani shrugged. "You guys bring it on yourselves. You're really...close, you know?"

There was a scream from somewhere further down the hall, cutting short Dean's rebuttal. Since Dani was pretty sure there was only one word that would follow "bite" she wasn't worried about missing anything.

"Jenny?" she called, running into the kitchen and looking around, trying to figure out where her sister might have gone. "Jenny!"

"In here," Dean called from the bathroom. "Look at that."

A dusty vent cover lay on the bathroom floor, just under the window. A small piece of lead pipe lay beside it, the end sticky with blood.

"Crap!" Dani said emphatically.

"It's all right," Sam said. "We just have to find where this comes out and then we can track him."

"Well no duh, Sherlock," Dani answered, pushing past him and running out of the apartment.

It didn't take long to find the sewer grate halfway across the parking lot. Dani swallowed the bile that rose in her throat when she saw more blood spattered on the ground beside it.

"In there," Dean said. "We've found them hiding in the sewer systems before."

"Well that's peachy. What would he want with Jenny anyway? I thought high school girls were his thing."

"Probably felt threatened," Sam said, pulling the grate up. "There's gonna be miles of sewer under here. Better to get started while the trail is fresh."

"This is no time for puns, Sammy," Dean said, grimacing down into the sewer. "Let's just get Cranky and get the hell back to the surface where we belong."

* * *

Four horrible hours later, Dani slammed the hotel room door and caught her breath, rubbing her hands over her face.

"It's going to be okay," Sam said soothingly.

"Okay?" she repeated. "I just spent three and a half hours in a sewer, my clothes and my car stink now, and...oh yeah! Shitty shifter stole my sister!"

"Look we're all stinky and pissed off," Dean said roughly. "But we'll figure this out. Your sister knows what she's doing, right?"

"Of course she does," Dani snapped. "And I do too! And presumably, so do you guys! So why didn't we find her?"

"I don't know!" Dean shouted.

"Okay," Sam said quickly. "We've got someone we can consult on this all right? We'll call Bobby up, see if he's heard anything that might help up track it. You, uh, you go clean up."

"Okay fine." Dani stomped off to the shower and cranked the heat up. If she'd called Jenny out of her Japanese world o'orgies only to get her killed, she'd never forgive herself.

After a thorough shower, she came back to find Sam gone and Dean lying on her bed. She was about to protest, but then she saw that he was fresh from the shower as well, so she only sat down on the bed and looked at him.

"Sam went to shower," he said. "And Bobby's on the way. He'll be here pretty soon."

She nodded, too tired to even ask who Bobby was and why she should care.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I just feel like an idiotic noob." She pushed her hands through her hair and leaned back against the headboard beside Dean, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "What was I thinking? I should have just handled this myself and left her to her sex and science."

"She has sex for science?"

"No. At least," Dani said with a half smile. "I don't think so."

She began chewing on her lip, the metal of her lip rings clinking gently against her teeth.

"Hey," Dean said. "How many piercings you got, anyway?"

"Uh, five," Dani said. "It used to be six, but my belly button ring got ripped out."

"So, the spiderbites make two, and the tongue ring makes three...the eyebrow makes four..."

"And no belly button ring...no earrings...so where..."

"You really _don't _know the appropriate times to hit on people, do you?"

"Hell, I'm just trying to distract you," Dean protested. "You know, make you feel better."

"I'll only give you three words about my other piercing," Dani said. "Below the belt."

She was pretty sure that Dean couldn't help the grin that spread over his face at the news. It was probably ingrained in male D.N.A.

"Well, you are just full of surprises," Dean said, pushing her damp hair back away from her face.

Dani shook her head. "Dude, you are downright incorrigible."

"Yeah, well, that's what they say."

He leaned toward her, a slight smile still curving his mouth, his hand light on the back of her neck. Dani let her eyes slide closed, because she couldn't' see any harm in seeing what kissing him was like, but before anything could happen, someone banged on the door.

"Come in," Dean called in annoyance.

The door opened.

"What's so important this-"

"Bobby?" Dani gasped, jumping off the bed as fast as she could, making Dean fall over.

"Dani." Bobby stopped just inside the doorway, staring at her, slack jawed with surprise.

Then he turned to Dean. "You want to tell me just what the hell you were doing in bed with my daughter?" he demanded.

"What?" Dean sputtered as he scrambled to prop himself up. "What the...she's not...you don't..."

"_You're_ their contact?" Dani demanded.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, walking into the room.

"Did you know Bobby had a daughter?" Dean asked his brother.

"What?" Sam looked at Dani and then at Bobby. "I don't..."

"All right," Bobby said, his voice cutting through all the babbling. "Everybody just be quiet for one damn minute while we figure this out!"

"You're a hunter?" Dani asked, once the room had gone quiet.

"Yes," Bobby answered. "Now, are you in some kind of trouble? The boys said they'd met up with an amateur hunter-"

"Thanks a lot, douchebags," Dani said, planting her hands on her hips and turning to frown at both of them.

"He said amateur, not me," Sam said, pointing at Dean.

"Way to throw me under the bus, Sammy."

"Would you chuckleheads shut up?" Bobby demanded before turning back to Dani. "Are you hunting now? And you tell me the truth, Danielle Grace Singer."

"Ooo you got full named," Dean muttered under his breath.

"Oh suck it," Dani snarled.

"Are you?" Bobby asked again.

"Yes," she said grudgingly.

"And you didn't think about telling me at some point?"

"I wanted to keep you safe!"

"Balls! I could have helped you!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that? As far as I knew, my dad was a scrap dealer! You haven't been honest either!" She quelled under the look he sent her. For a guy in a trucker hat, he was really intimidating when he wanted to be. "Sorry."

"All right," he said, taking a seat at the table and eyeing Dean until he sat down as far from Dani as possible. "So it was Jenny that got taken."

"Yeah."

Dean and Sam gave him a review of the case to get him up to speed and he nodded thoughtfully.

"And you tracked it through the sewers," he said.

"We looked over every inch of the place," Dani confirmed.

"What about the places where the sewers open up?" Bobby asked.

"What?" Dean asked.

"He might have used the sewer passages as a shortcut to somewhere else," Bobby said patiently.

"Oh. Well, yeah, that makes sense," Sam said.

"See?" Bobby said, with a look at Dani. "You're not the only amateur."

She gave him a brief smile. "Okay, but where? And how do we find out?"

"A map of the sewer system would be a good place to start," Bobby said. "Match it up with the streets, find places close to sewer grates where it could come out with a body and hide pretty damn quick."

Dani nodded. "Sounds good. So we just have to find out where they keep the records for..."

"Leave that to me," Sam said confidently, opening his laptop.

Dani snuck a glance at Bobby and he nodded.

"Yeah, he's real good at this kinda thing."

"So, know that we've got a plan," Dean said. "You want to tell me how the hell we never knew about this?"

"You think I tell you boys everything about my life?" Bobby demanded.

"I know you don't tell _me_ everything about your life," Dani pointed out.

"Well, I was trying to keep you safe from all this," her father said, looking down at the cheap laminate table top. "I was hoping that if I sort of kept it from you...then the stuff that goes bump in the night would leave you alone."

"She killed a demon with a fork when she was 17," Dean said helpfully.

"Got a wicked scar out of it too," Dani said, rolling up her sleeve to show him.

Bobby didn't look impressed so much as horrified, so she rolled it back down again and tried to hide her hands casually under the table so he wouldn't see the scars on her wrists.

"So, anyway," she said. "It's good to see you. It's been...what...three years?"

"Try six," Bobby said. "Last time I saw you was right after you dropped out of high school, remember?"

"Oh." Dani tried for a smile, but her lips quivered a little. "Right."

"We'll find her, kiddo," Bobby said. "You've got a good team working for you. And you've got me. We'll get it done in no time."

* * *

Jenny opened her eyes and blinked in the darkness. "Ugh." She tried to rub her head but found that her hands were chained behind her. "Great."

"Good to see you're awake." A young male voice growled from the corner across from her. "I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to have any fun with you. The other girls were a lot of fun to play with, but I've never had a real woman before."

"And you aren't going to now," Jenny grumbled as she rattled her chains. "So, is this little shack of yours in the middle of nowhere? It seems you've wised up since slaughtering your schoolmates."

"Well, I _have_ seen the police crawling all over their houses. I might have a lot of things wrong with me," his mouth twisted in a cynical half smile. "But I'm not dumb."

"Right. So, bringing a hunter right into your little den of iniquity seemed like a good idea to you?" she asked, quietly shimmying her lock picking kit out of her pocket. "I'm gonna tell you that it wasn't."

"I didn't ask." The voice scoffed and stepped into view. He looked almost like a normal teenager, but his stance was off. She could tell that one of his legs was shorter than the other, which made his back curl uncomfortably. His face was covered in what looked like acne, but Jenny was familiar enough with shifters to know that he couldn't quite control his ability yet.

"There are places you could have gone, you know. People who could have helped if you'd asked," Jenny said compassionately as she worked her lock pick into the lock keeping her chains together.

"No one understands me!" he snapped at her. "My parents didn't understand me... can you guess where they are now?"

"Oh, I'm sure they're dead," Jenny told him nonchalantly as the lock clicked open. "I bet that's where you got your first taste of the bad boy life, am I right?"

"Do you like bad boys? I'll show you just how bad I can be before I finish you off." He slid his hand down her neck and let it settle on her collarbone.

"I'm sorry. I don't play with boys."

"So you like girls?" He brought his hand down to cup her breast. "I can fix that. You won't be able to enjoy it for long though."

Jenny sighed. "I meant that I only have sex with men. Now take your hand off of me or I will end you here and now."

He only laughed at her, squeezing tightly.

"Just remember that you asked for this." She shrugged again and headbutted him as hard as she could. When he stumbled back, she grabbed a nearby shovel and hit him square in the face, knocking him down onto his back before using the blade to separate his head from his body and throw it out the window behind her.

"Ah!" She heard a familiar voice shout in disgust.

"It took you guys long enough to get here," she said, leaning out of the window with a wry smile.

"Yeah well, I spent four hours in a sewer," Dani answered with a relieved grin. "Rescuing you, shower..." She pretended to weigh the options in her hands. "You can tell by the fact that we're all fresh and clean that showering won out."

"We _were_ fresh and clean," Dean corrected, looking down at the blood splatter on his jacket. "Till I got headbutted."

"So, you coming out, or do I finally get to kick a door in?" Dani demanded.

"It's up to you." Jenny snickered. "It you really want to show us your feats of strength, go right ahead. Hey, is that Bobby? Hey Bobby!"

Dani kicked open the door, relieved to the very depths of her soul when it worked the first time.

"Haha!" she said triumphantly. "And yeah, that's Dad. Bobby knows now. So, you know," she gave an exaggerated double thumbs up. "No more secrets! And he's a hunter too! Can you believe it?"

"Well, given what Jack has told me about his past, it sounds about right." Jenny nodded. "About the showers. Where can I obtain one and how soon can we get there? This guy tried to do some pretty awful things to me." She watched as Dean stepped up and shot the body in the heart just in case. It looked pretty dead, but no one had ever tried beheading a shifter and they all knew that the traditional way to kill them was a silver bullet in the heart.

"You can get a shower back at the motel. It's actually pretty close, because everything in Arnold is close to everything else. And, also, Dean, Jenny will get your jacket dry cleaned since she splattered shifter brains all over it."

"Wait, what?" Jenny stuttered. "I... fine. But I better be in a shower in the next ten minutes or so help me!"

Dani took Dean's jacket to the cleaners and dropped it off while Jenny showered.

"Still going, huh?" she said when she stepped back into the room half an hour later with a dry cleaning ticket for 'Jim Morrison' only to hear the shower still running. "The dry cleaner guy is a big fan of your name by the way. And I told him that you had a hunting accident."

"True as far as it goes. Thanks," Dean said, stuffing the dry cleaning ticket into his pocket. "Sorry we didn't get to help you rescue your sister."

Dani shrugged. "Well, everyone has an off day. Either way, crazy shifter is dead, Jenny is alive, I got to find out that my dad is even more awesome than I thought, and you get a clean jacket. Not as bad as it could have been."

"I love an optimist," Dean said, giving Dani a slow grin.

"Come here for a second," Bobby said suddenly.

Everyone looked at him, but he pointed to Dean and the two of them walked outside.

Jenny stepped out of the bathroom, still wrapped in her towel and began rummaging through her suitcase. "I guess I should start packing so I can make it to the eight o'clock flight I just booked."

"Aw, already?" Dani said. "Don't want to stay and...yeah. Okay, I don't blame you."

"I have a thing I want to do... a few of them actually, and I'm sure they've all missed me." Jenny grinned nostalgically.

"Okay," Dani said. "I'll go check out and drive you to the airport. It probably wouldn't hurt you to get on the move either," she went on to Sam. "We did just sort of commit...well, I guess _we_ didn't commit the murder so much...but anyway..."

"Sure," Sam said. "I'll walk down with you. Who knows how long it'll take to get someone at the desk?"

They walked out to hear Dean saying, "I didn't! I swear, Bobby-"

"Nice day, huh?" Sam said loudly, to cover up what was obviously a "Not with my little girl" speech. It still boggled his mind to think that the girl walking beside him was Bobby Singer's daughter and he swore to himself that he would get the whole story come hell or high water.

After they'd checked out and Dani had loaded her car with Jenny's suitcases they all faced each other in the parking lot.

"So," Dani said. "This has been fun!"

"If you can call being violated by a teenaged monster fun." Jenny shrugged amicably. "But it was nice to see you again."

Dani pulled her sister into a hug. "It was. So, call me more often. All work and no play...you know the drill." She turned back to Sam and Dean and gave them a smile. "And also, say good bye to the gentleman hunter and his pervy brother. They tried really hard to save you, after all."

Jenny sighed and turned to face the brothers. "I guess this is goodbye; you guys try not to die, why don't you?"

"We do our best," Dean answered Jenny. He glanced over his shoulder at Bobby and then said, "So, uh...bye." to Dani.

"Abrupt goodbye is abrupt," Dani said. "If you guys ever want any help, you've got my number."

"We do?" Sam asked.

"Oh yeah, I put it in your phones when you weren't looking...under Best Hunter Ever. I'll call you tonight, if you want, Bobby."

"Why not swing by?" he asked. "I live pretty close, you know."

"Sounds good." Dani flashed them all a smile and waved as she dropped into the driver's seat. "Ready, Jenny?"

"Sure thing!" She shot the guys a salute and slipped into the black mustang and they headed off down the road.


	3. This House is Haunted Part One

August 11th, 2006

Sioux Falls, SD

"Well, would you look at that," Dean said as he pulled the Impala into the scrap yard and saw a woman busy under the hood of a Mustang despite the late summer day heat. Bobby had threatened to break every bone in Dean's body if he found him in bed with Dani, but that didn't make Dean any less glad to see her.

"Is that Dani?" Sam asked, glancing up a little too quickly from refolding the map. He'd thought of her more than he'd planned to over the last few weeks, but he hadn't really expected to see her again. He jammed the map in the glove box and brushed his hand through his hair to make sure it wasn't too unruly.

"It's her car," Dean said, shifting into park and opening his door. "And if I know her," he raised his voice so she'd hear him. "Nobody else works on Sally."

"Got that right," Dani said with a smile, wiping grease from her fingers onto the rag she'd tucked into her belt and walking over. "And props to you for remembering her name. Good to see you guys."

She stood on tiptoes to exchange a hug with Sam and grinned when Dean offered her his hand.

"Not a hugger?" she asked, shaking his hand gravely.

"He's scared of Bobby," Sam clarified.

"Ah. Well, you're a wuss, but I get it. What brings you guys out? Anything big?"

Dean leaned back against the Impala and pulled his sweat soaked shirt away from his skin. "Hoping for something?"

"I'd say. All she's been doing is whining about how there's nothing happening lately," Bobby said, stepping out onto his front porch and waving them inside. "Get in here before ya'll drop of heat stroke."

"I've been cleaning while I whine," Dani said indignantly, spreading her arms to indicate the living room.

"Cleaning like crazy," Sam agreed, looking around. "I can see the top of your desk, Bobby!"

"And he has bookshelves now," Dani said, her voice smug. "_Alphabetized_ bookshelves."

"Does look better," Bobby agreed, holding out beer bottles to the Winchesters, who drank eagerly.

"It's damn hot out there," Dean said to Dani in explanation when he lowered the bottle with only a sip or two left. "And my AC needs a Freon boost."

"And," Sam went on. "To answer your question, no. There's nothing big going on right now. We took care of a zombie, but it wasn't that hard."

Dani's eyes lit up with interest but before she could speak, Dean swigged the rest of his beer and then took Sam's half finished one. "Harder than it should have been. Crazy people, can't freakin' let go. What's dead should stay dead."

"So what else have you boys been up to?" Bobby asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

"Taking advantage of the lull. Getting some money together," Dean answered. "Sammy had a steady thing for about two weeks helping out at a lumber mill."

"And Dean won seven poker games and nearly got shot for cheating," Sam said, with a grin at his brother. "What about you two? Other than cleaning, that is."

"Gettin' parts for the mustang," Bobby said.

Dani put her chin in her hands and sighed at the reminder. "New transmission for Sally. It started slipping right after I dropped Jenny at the airport."

"She get back okay?" Dean asked. "No issues?"

"Nah," Dani said with a shrug. "We talked it out on the way to the airport. At least, as much as we ever talk things out. By the time she hit the friendly Japanese skies she was probably feeling better. Sounded like it the last time we talked. There are a lot of distractions over there."

"Sexy science," Dean said with a nod.

"Yep. So, if you guys aren't here to rescue me from the boredom then I don't know why I should be nice, but how about some supper? We'll all enjoy the lull together."

"You cook?" Sam asked. Somehow it didn't suit his mental image of her.

"Uh, yeah. Jill of all trades here. Any requests?" Before they could answer she stood up. "I know what I'll do, actually. I just need more than ten bucks to put the whole thing together. And a car so I can get to the store." She raised an eyebrow at Dean as she put on her most charming smile. "How about it?"

"Oh no. I am not letting you borrow my car."

"Drive me? I'll make it worth your while."

Bobby cleared his throat when Dean started to stand. "You can use my truck. Sam'll drive you."

"I will?" Sam asked in surprise, glancing up at Bobby. The man had a "Fuck with me and I'll fill you full of buckshot" look on his face. "I mean, I will." He repeated, making his voice firm. "I'll even chip in for groceries since we're eating too."

They walked out into the hot summer day and Dani cast a glance at the Mustang sitting in the scrap yard. "My poor baby."

Sam chuckled and slid behind the wheel of Bobby's truck.

"You're really attached, huh?"

"Oh yeah. Sally was my graduation present. Or at least, that was her intended purpose. I guilted Bobby into giving her to me anyway. She's pretty much home."

"Yeah, Dean feels like that about the Impala."

"And you don't?"

Sam shrugged. "It's better than sleeping in the rain, but I guess...I guess I don't know what home feels like, really."

Dani glanced at him as she buckled her seat belt. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Sam glanced at her. "You really don't know the story?"

"There's a story?"

Sam pulled the truck out onto the road carefully. "God, driving this makes me nervous."

"This is Bobby's baby," she said. "But there's pretty much no traffic in Sioux Falls, so I think you're okay." She figured that was Sam's way of getting out of telling the story and so she was surprised when he started talking again.

"My mom died when I was 6 months old. They said it was a house fire, but it wasn't. It was a demon. My dad looked for that demon his whole life, dragged me and Dean along with him. We were never in one place long enough for me to know...I don't even know why I'm telling you this." He laughed self consciously. "Sorry, it's just good to talk to somebody who isn't Dean every once in a while, you know?"

"No worries," Dani said with a wave of her hand. "At least you have someone to talk to. I didn't even know there was a network of hunters here. So, for the most part I talk to Sally. So, see? I might know what home feels like, but I'm also the type of crazy that thinks it's cool to talk to her car. And I'm sorry about your mom. And...I'm guessing your dad too?"

"Yeah," Sam said, swallowing hard. "Yeah, it hasn't been long."

"That really sucks. My mom died when I was 17. Cancer. It...it wasn't quick." Dani cleared her throat. "More cheerful subjects?"

"God yes." Sam pulled into the grocery store parking lot and parked. "What's for dinner?"

"How does steak and potatoes sound?"

"Pretty good." Sam gestured for her to stay seated and then walked around and opened her door.

"You are a gentleman hunter," she said, taking his hand and sliding down out of the truck.

"Just doing my best to prove we aren't all dicks."

The coolness of the grocery store enveloped them and Dani sighed in relief. "I don't know why Bobby won't fix the AC in that truck. I'm sweating like a pig."

"Pigs actually don't sweat." Where the hell had that come from?

Dani raised an eyebrow. "I'm sweating like a person then. Either way it's hot."

"Yeah." She stepped in front of him to get a cart and he couldn't help but notice how good she looked in her bright red tank top and cut offs. She had legs for miles and the sleek kind of muscle built by running and he really needed to quit checking her out before Bobby threatened to break all of his bones as well."So...uh..."

"Yeah?"

"Have you been staying with Bobby this whole time?" Kind of lame, but logical.

"Yep. We had some catching up to do and it's all way easier now that we're both out of the closet, so to speak."

"I don't wanna pry into your personal life..." Actually, he was dying to, but he couldn't come right out and say it. "You and Bobby...were you close at all?" He and Dean had talked a little about it after meeting her, but they just couldn't figure out how the guy had hidden his daughter for so long.

Dani tugged a thin plastic bag down and began to fill it with red skinned potatoes. "It's okay. Bobby thinks of you guys as family, which makes us...something." She gave a good natured shrug. "I don't have daddy issues if that's what you mean. Bobby sent child support and birthday cards, even called from time to time. He's a great guy and an awesome long distance dad. He started to come down to see me for two weeks every summer and take me on a road trip once I was old enough to not be aggravating. Those were always a lot of fun."

It was more quality time than John had spent with either one of his sons, Sam thought briefly before forcing his train of thought back to Dani and Bobby. Dean was going to be so jealous that he'd gotten the scoop first. "That's...uh...Bobby is a great guy. So...I guess the thing is, you know, Bobby...when his wife died...I guess that's why Dean and I were so surprised to find out about you." It sounded like a non sequitur, but Dani got it.

"Yeah, she was the love of his life," Dani said, a sentimental look crossing her face. "But that doesn't make him a monk. He met my mom on a job in New Orleans; things happened...nine months later, there's little me. These steaks look great don't they?"

Sam's mouth actually watered at the sight of them. "They really do. Thanks for doing this, by the way."

She smiled up at him, struck again by just how tall he was."Hey, you're paying for some of it. But you're welcome. Should I get salad stuff? Will anyone eat it?"

"Dean won't, but I will," Sam said. "Bobby will if you make it, and he should probably have vegetables at least once a year."

With a nod of agreement, Dani headed back to the produce section where she and Sam picked up lettuce, fresh tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, bean sprouts, and radishes.

"So you're the rare guy that eats salad without the influence of a good woman?" she asked as they headed down the aisle to get salad dressing. She was sorry she'd asked when a pained look crossed Sam's expressive face. Just because she didn't care when people asked personal questions, didn't mean everyone else felt the same. "What do you think?" she hurried on, making her voice casual. "Italian vinaigrette or the ubiquitous ranch?"

"Uh, why not both?" Sam asked, clearly relieved that she'd changed the subject.

"I like the way you think." She dropped two bottles into the cart, swung by for some 2 liters and the ingredients for brownies and then they walked to the register.

"Hot enough for you?" the teenage girl running the cash register asked Sam.

Dani held back her smile as he chatted with the girl. She couldn't blame her. Sam was downright adorable, especially when he smiled. Dimples. Gah! The urge to ruffle his hair was nearly overwhelming and one day she was going to have to give in. She hoped he wasn't the type to get huffy over stuff like that. Of course, if he was, then he should tone down on all the adorable.

When the girl told them the total, Dani held out her crumpled $10 bill, but Sam waved her off. "I'll get Dean to pay me back for some of it," he said. "He had a real lucky streak."

Dani figured she should protest, but she didn't really want too. That ten bucks wouldn't get her far, but it would at least get her out of Sioux Falls where she could hopefully hustle some pool players. She already owed Bobby for the transmission and she didn't want him to think she was a total mooch.

"I should get him to teach me to play," she said as she starting loading up the shopping cart. It wouldn't hurt to have an extra game up her sleeve and poker players usually had more money.

"Oh God," Sam groaned. "You'll get the speech."

"The speech?"

Sam lowered his voice a little and widened his stance, imitating Dean. "First thing you gotta know, sweetheart. You don't play the game, you play the player." He let his lips curve into a slow grin and then winked.

Dani giggled and got into the truck. As impressions went, that was spot on.

* * *

After dinner, Dani stepped out onto the back porch and lit her once a day cigarette. She was only one guilty drag into it when Dean opened the back door.

"You smoke?" he asked in surprise.

"Yeah well..." she trailed off.

"Don't you run?"

Dani crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Yes, 6 miles a day. Sometimes 10 if I get the time."

"How do you do it without hacking up a lung?"

"I only smoke one a day. Anyway, you're drinking so why not call it even?"

Dean held out a bottle. "I brought one for you."

"Thanks, but I'm good." She held up a can of Pepsi and smiled. "And I thought you were scared to hang out with me."

Dean nodded to the window behind him where Bobby and Sam were cleaning up the kitchen. "I'm in Bobby's line of sight, so I think it'll be okay."

"Good. You're fun to talk to," Dani said honestly. "It's nice to hang out with someone who understands good music and how houses can have horsepower."

Dean laughed and clinked his beer bottle against her Pepsi can. "Damn straight."

"Hey," Dani said after some small talk about her transmission and plans to check his AC lines in the morning. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"What's Sam's damage?"

"What do you mean?" Dean asked evasively.

"He told me about the demon. But I feel like there's something else with him...something besides the parental angle."

"He lost his girlfriend last year."

"That's..." It wasn't what Dani had expected.

"Yeah, it would have been shitty enough for him anyway," Dean said. "She was a cute girl, only twenty one years old, but it wasn't normal. Same demon that got our mom got Jessica too."

He saw Dani's brows furrow as she processed the information. "So, what is this? Some kind of demon vendetta?"

"Yeah, that's how it looks. We don't really have it all worked out. But, anyhow, that's Sammy's damage. He loved her. He was going to marry her. Instead, she got pinned to the ceiling and she died in flames."

Dani glanced through the window at Sam, who was stacking dishes. She saw him grin at something and then she saw her father walk into view wearing an apron.

"Poor guy," she said watching Bobby smack Sam across the back of the head for laughing. "Poor girl too. Poor everyone involved."

Dean nodded. "Don't get all sympathetic female on him though, okay? He probably wouldn't want you to know."

Dani laughed. "Sympathetic female? It's a really good thing for you that I like my friends a little sexist, Winchester. And no worries. If he comes to me with any type of personal problems I'll tell him to man up."

"That's what I like to hear." Dean opened the other beer bottle and, in response to her amused look, said, "What? You said no, right?"

"Sexist _and_ a budding alcoholic. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to resist you." Dani walked back inside with a grin at his upraised middle finger.

* * *

The next morning after breakfast, Dani read the news over Sam's shoulder.

"Hey, go back," she said as he scrolled through aimlessly.

"What?" he asked, clicking the back button.

"That. Newberry College suicide."

"Yeah?" They both read in silence for a moment. "So?"

"So, it's familiar." Dani walked into the living room and rummaged through her duffle bag, coming back to the table with a worn journal with a gold stamped Fleur de Lis on the cover. She flipped through the pages quickly and then pulled out a newspaper clipping. "See? It's happened before. Only the last time it was a guy."

Sam took the clipping. "Well yeah, but the circumstances were really different," he pointed out after several moments. "This guy had just gotten dumped. This girl," he turned back to the article and scanned through it. "Had just gotten engaged."

"But they both jumped from the same place." Dani leaned forward excitedly. "I think we should check it out."

"Newberry College is in South Carolina."

"I know."

"I just think it's a long way to go for a hunch."

Sam gave her a "good try, kid" smile and went back to his Internet surfing. Dani took a deep breath and resisted the urge to punch him. This was exactly why she didn't work with a partner. She hated explaining herself.

"I bet you fifty dollars that I'm right and you're wrong."

Sam looked up in surprise. "What?"

She moved closer and enunciated. "I'm right and you're wrong."

He raised an eyebrow and resisted the sudden urge to kiss her. She'd probably smack him for it. There was a definite challenge in her dark blue eyes. "Oh really?"

"Oh yeah. All kinds of wrong."

"Wrong about what?" Dean asked, stumbling through the kitchen and groping for the coffee pot. "You had breakfast without me?"

"Fry an egg," Dani said, pulling out her cell phone.

"You made him pancakes!"

"Drive me to South Carolina and I'll make pancakes right now," Dani offered. "Heck, I'll feed them to you if you back me up."

"South Carolina?" he repeated after several gulps of coffee. She made damn good coffee. Strong enough to walk on its own.

"Between North Carolina and Georgia," she said helpfully.

She and Sam both began explaining at the same time, Dani pushing the clipping over to Dean and Sam reading the news story from his laptop.

"Long story short, he thinks I'm wrong," Dani finished, leaning back and crossing her arms.

Sam shrugged. "Yeah, kinda. Look, it's not personal! It's just that you haven't been hunting as long as we have and well..."

"Well nothing, college boy. What do you think?" she asked Dean hopefully.

Dean yawned so widely that she was afraid his jaw was going to unhinge, rattlesnake style. "Sorry, kid. Sammy's right. There's just not enough to go on."

"Not enough to-" Dani broke off. "What if I can prove it?"

"How?" Sam asked.

Dani started dialing. She could have proven it on her own with copious amounts of research, but calling her sister was easier.

"Hey Dani, what do you need?" Jenny asked over the hum of a television behind her.

"Records."

"Okay… could you be a little more specific?"

"Yeah, I guess that would help. Okay, I think that I've found a job at Newberry College in South Carolina but," she raised her voice a bit. "The Winchesters don't believe me. I'm kind of thinking that the place might be a hot spot. Basically, I need everything you might have on crazy stuff in or around Newberry College."

"Why don't the Winchesters believe you? It isn't as if you're wrong all that often." Jenny typed some keywords into her laptop quickly and scanned the data that popped up. "And, it doesn't look like you are this time either. There have been a huge influx of suicides at Newberry over the last fifty years, increasing exponentially within the last twenty… actually… there are records of this sort of thing that go back all the way to 1895 when Keller Hall was built, but the numbers really jump in the fifties. Why are you with the Winchesters?"

"Actually, they're with me," Dani said, scribbling down everything her sister had just told her and sliding the note to Sam with a raised eyebrow. "I'm still at Bobby's because of the transmission. They dropped by because of the lull and now they're being wusses about a little old two day drive."

"Well a two day drive with you is like…" Jenny's voice became muffled for a minute, "Yeah, it's my sister." Suddenly her voice rang clearly again. "Sorry, I'm getting the stink eye because the guy I'm spending the night with isn't getting the attention he wants… so sorry, the attention he obviously deserves." The last part of her sentence was barely understandable over the fit of giggles she erupted into. "What was I saying?"

"That a two day drive with me is like heaven and the Winchesters should man up. I agree 100%" Dani watched as Dean read the note Sam had pushed across the table. "They're thinking. It's cute. You should really be here for it."

"Aw, are they sharing brotherly looks of love again?" Jenny snickered. "I think I've gotta go..." her voice trailed off, muffled now.

"If he's too much for you, you could always go back to your sexy science. Or come hang out with me again." Dani figured her sister wouldn't take the bait, but it was always worth a shot.

"I just might… but I have a thing I have to finish here. And several things I WANT to do." Jenny sighed wistfully. "Have you gotten into Sam's pants yet?"

"Nah," Dani said. She'd never actually planned on it, but she knew how her sister was. "Bobby's been a little on the fatherly side. Have you taken a good look at his butt though?" When both the Winchesters stared at her she said, "Not Bobby's! Come on! Anyway, Jenny, have you noticed it? It's so nice!"

"I try not to look at your father's ass," Jenny joked. "Oh God, stop looking at me like that Riki! I prefer Milo's to Otis' but I get the feeling that Milo wants you instead and who am I to stand between you and sweet sweet Milo?"

"I don't know," Dani said speculatively as she eyed Dean, who obviously still waiting for her to make his breakfast. He had a long wait coming. "I think he's too scared to take the plunge. So, it's a no from you on Newberry College, huh? Because I think I've got a yes from the guys. I can see it in their expressive eyes." Dean flipped her off. She stuck her tongue out at him. "And hand gestures."

"Yeah, it is a no for me, but feel free to beat anyone you like up in my name so that it can feel like I'm there," Jenny said with a giggle. "In fact, you should probably just kick Milo's ass for dragging his feet."

"He don't know what he's missin'," Dani drawled. "I'll keep you posted on my progress and I'll hang onto the fifty bucks Sam is going to owe me when this is over. The next time you're in America, I'll buy you dinner."

"That sounds great. I guess I'll see you in about a year then."

"You never know," Dani said cheerfully. "The world might end and then we'd have to get together sooner." She disconnected the call and looked across the table. "So, what do you say?"

"It might be something," Sam said with a good natured shrug.

"Want to help me out?" she asked. "I mean, you already owe me fifty bucks, right?" She glanced at Dean. "And I need a car."

Sam laughed. "Sure, I'm in."

"Why the hell not?" Dean said after a moment. He could get pancakes at a diner on the way out. Let them watch him eat. Serve 'em right. "Go tell Bobby and we'll get our stuff together."

* * *

"So, the way I see it," Dani said when they stopped for the night. "I'll just sleep in the car."

"In this heat?" Dean asked. "I'd have to scrape you off my leather in the morning."

Dani grinned. "Well, you wouldn't stop so that I could shoot some pool and I don't have any money."

"Bobby gave you money, I saw him."

"Yeah, and I plan to give it back," she said firmly. "I can make it on my own. I always do. It's no big deal."

"You can stay in our room," Sam offered.

"Yeah, and who's gonna share a bed?" Dani asked with a grin. "You and Dean? Or me and you? We're back to somebody being out a bed and since this was my big idea, it should be me."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Suddenly Sam laughed.

"What?" Dani asked.

"Nothing. It's just that usually girls make excuses to get close to Dean and you've got a perfect one and you're offering to sleep in his car."

Dani leaned up and rested her arms on the front seat between the Winchesters. "Am I breaking a rule by not trying to get all up on Dean?"

"The rule is unspoken," Sam said. "But yeah. I think you might be."

"Not enough women know that rule," Dean grumbled. "Anyway, your virtue is safe with me."

"It's 'cause I'm not hot," she said sagely.

"What?" Sam asked, surprised at her matter of fact tone. "You're…" he trailed off because he really wasn't in the mood to make Dean laugh at him.

She waved her hand. "I'm weird looking and I know it. Asymmetrical face. Big nose. It's cool. You're not going to let me sleep in the car, are you?"

"Nope," Sam said firmly. "One of us can-"

"Look, we're all adults here," Dean cut in. "I think we could manage this for a night or two."

"So, you'll share a bed with Sam then?" Dani asked, trying to keep the grin off her face as the look the two of them exchanged. "I'm just kidding. Fine, I'll shack up. Should we draw straws?"

"Rock paper scissors," Sam said suddenly. "Winner gets you."

"Treating women as possessions?" Dean put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "I'm so proud of you, Sammy."

Sam shook him off. "Whatever. Let's do this."

Both of the guys clenched their right hand into a fist and banged it against their open palm three times. Dani watched with great interest.

Dean picked scissors. Sam picked rock. Dean swore. Sam cackled in victory.

"When I retell this moment, you guys are gonna look so much better than me," Dani complained. "I'm the chick who let two brothers play rock paper scissors over going to bed with her."

"I saw a movie that started out like that once," Dean said reminiscently.

"Did it have a happy ending?" Dani asked sarcastically.

Dean pointed at her seriously. "For all concerned. Ready?"

The clerk handed them a key and pointed them in the direction of their room. She was glad to get out of there. The guy kept giving the Winchesters a creepy grin.

"This room is...interesting," Dani said when they stepped inside. She felt heat climbing up into her face and she began digging through her duffle bag to hide the blush. The room had a distinct theme and that theme seemed to be, "Boobs are great!" There were Playboy bunny silhouettes everywhere and pinup spreads framed above both beds. "How is this even...man, now I know why the check in guy kept giving you two thinly veiled congratulations. He thinks..."

"Yes he does," Dean drawled.

"So you're cool with being the guy who lets other guys, uh, do things..."

"What?"

"Well you know..." She pointed at Sam. "What do you think threesomes are?"

"You'd be in the middle!" Dean said. "I wouldn't...I mean, not with him anyway..."

Now at least she wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable, which made her feel a lot better. Sam laughed at Dani's cheeky grin and draped his arm around her shoulders.

"I think you've met your match, Dean."

Dean chose to ignore his brother. "I'm going to get something to eat."

After they ate and did a little more research on the town and the college itself, Dean went to sleep.

"He really drops off fast, doesn't he?" Dani asked, glancing over her shoulder at Dean.

"Yeah," Sam agreed. "I don't know how he does that. We should probably try to get some sleep too though. I think we've got enough to go on for tomorrow."

Dani nodded. "I'm gonna take a shower. You...uh, go on to bed."

After her shower she realized how stupid her current lack of real pajamas was. She usually slept in a tank top and underwear. Should she wear a bra? No. That was stupid. Maybe a tee shirt instead though...and what about pants? She didn't have any she wanted to sleep in. She chewed her lip rings and stared at her reflection.

"Get out there. You. Loser." she ordered herself. She pulled her tank top on and yanked it down as far as she could. Then she nearly spilled out of the top. "Damn it." She adjusted the top again and sighed with relief when she remembered her Snoopy boxers. She'd bought them on a whim once because they were cute. She could wear those! She shimmied into them in the low light of the lamp Sam had left on for her and then looked at the bed, planning her approach vector. Sam was pretty much on the edge of the bed, so at least that was easy. Thank God for gentleman hunters.

She turned the light off and slid under the covers on the extreme opposite edge of the bed. They could have fit another person between them. She had the distinct feeling that she wasn't going to get any sleep. In a way she hoped that she didn't. Then at least she wouldn't fall onto the floor.

* * *

She didn't fall onto the floor. What happened was infinitely more embarrassing. There were only two things that made it better. The first was that Dean slept through it. The second was that Sam shared the blame equally. They'd both edged over in the night and when Dani woke up she stretched sleepily and discovered that Sam was spooning her. To make it worse, her arm had been draped over his and her left leg was wedged back through both of his so that her ass was pressed firmly against his...uh...she groaned internally. Seriously? _Sure, I'll go to bed with you and then I'll make it as awkward as possible by getting all up on your junk._

Furthermore, just how was she supposed to get out of this without waking him up? As an addendum to that, how could a guy so lean and lanky possibly be so warm and comfortable? As she lay there, silently freaking out, Sam stretched and murmured low in his throat. Was he waking up? She waited with bated breath. His arm went tighter around her, hugging her closer. In about five seconds he was going to wake up and think that she was the most incredibly desperate person in the whole world.

He woke up. Dani was relieved when he whispered, "Oh shit!" as he moved quickly back over to his side of the bed. She pretended to be sleeping as he got up and headed for the bathroom. When the door shut firmly and the shower came on, she rolled over onto her back and covered her face with both hands. She couldn't imagine what he was thinking about her right now and she decided abruptly that pretending nothing had happened was the way to go. She was awfully good at it by now.

Dean made it easy. They bet on everything. How long it would take to get to the next town, whether Dani actually knew all the words to Stairway to Heaven, whether or not Sam was going to the bathroom to straighten his hair, whether or not the next gas station would have pie...soon she owed him ten bucks, mainly because Sam had actually come back from the bathroom with neater hair, but it was still fun.

"We should work together more often," Dean said as they pulled into Newberry. "And I don't say that much."

Dani grinned, happy that he'd been the one to say it. "I agree. And I'm a pretty solitary hunter myself."

"If you two are finished with the Lifetime moment," Sam said. "We need to figure out who we're going to be."

"I figured reporters," Dani suggested. "It's not the kind of thing that higher ups would be interested in."

"Good thinking," Dean said. "So we're reporters from..."

"Columbia, I think. It's close and it's important."

"Sounds good," Sam agreed.

"Yeah. So where's my apology?"

"Apology?" Sam suddenly looked so incredibly guilty that Dean glanced at him, worried.

"For thinking I'm too much of an amateur for this job," she clarified, realizing that he probably thought she was going to call him out on the spooning. Maybe when hell froze.

"_I_ never said you were an amateur," Dean said.

"You called me "kid." I can't be that much younger than you. And your _smile_ said kid, even if you didn't," she went on, pointing at Sam. "And I know that I'm older than you, college boy."

He snapped his mouth closed and gave her a half smile and a shrug. "I don't think you're an amateur," he said finally. "I just didn't see the pattern."

"It's cool. The confidence was hot."

"Told you, Sammy," Dean said. "Girls like swagger."


	4. This House is Haunted Part Two

"Hello Mr. Erickson," Dani said, holding her hand out to the college president. "I called earlier. Dani Roth? These are my assistants, David and Lee."

"Yes, nice to meet you," the man said cordially. "I just wish it was under better circumstances."

Dani nodded. "So, what can you tell me about the suicides?"

"There's only been one," he said in confusion. "Riley Williams."

"You weren't the president two years ago when Mark Simpson jumped from the tower?"

"Oh. Oh, yes, I was."

"And six years ago when Hannah Abernathy ended her life there?"

"Yes."

"And eleven years ago when Duncan Foster-"

"Yes," he cut in. "But anything else would be before my time."

"So you're familiar with the history of suicides from the site of Keller Hall, starting in the 1860's maybe?"

Mr. Erickson laughed suddenly, leaning forward, suddenly appearing more in control. "So you're talking about that old legend? The one about the poor girl who fell in love with a boy from the wrong army and hurled herself from the tower to spite her father?"

"Um, no, actually," Sam said, pausing in his industrious note taking. "Keller Hall wasn't built until-"

Dani stepped on his foot heavily. He might not be talking about the legend, but she was.

"Exactly," the man hurried to say. "Keller Hall wasn't built until 1895."

"Right, but was there something else on that land?" Dani asked.

"I'm not sure," Erickson said stiffly.

She was pretty sure that he was lying, but there wasn't much she could do about it. "Well, let's not dwell on the past. What can you tell us about Riley?"

"She was a good kid. I didn't know her personally, but many members of the staff are saddened and shocked by what happened."

"And there weren't any signs that she was gonna off herself?" Dean asked.

"None," Erickson said firmly. "She'd just gotten engaged and, as far as I know, she was very happy about it. She had good grades, was involved in several student organizations...really a model student and member of the community."

Dani stood smoothly. "Thanks for your help. Come on, guys."

"So, what was the deal with the foot stomping?" Sam asked once they were in the Impala going over his notes.

"Something used to be on that land and I wanted to know what. I'm thinking this is a vengeful spirit. Tied to the land and just making use of the hall."

"Can't leave, gradually losing its shit," Dean agreed. "That's what I was thinking too."

"Excellent!" Dani punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Great minds, right?"

"I guess I get to be the one to slog through the records for what used to be there," Sam said.

Dani and Dean both nodded seriously.

"Yay," Sam muttered.

"Don't pretend like you don't like it," Dean said affectionately. "We all know you get off on research."

* * *

Dani and Dean had made it through three cheap cable movies and a chocolate pie by the time Sam came back, grinning widely and covered in dust. "I found it!"

"Good job!" Dani said, handing him the piece of pie she'd hidden from Dean. "What was it?"

"Farmhouse!"

"Exciting," Dean muttered.

"You don't know how long it took me to find this," Sam protested. "And anyway, it makes the vengeful spirit theory make better sense."

"What difference does it make?" Dean asked. "People off themselves all over the place. Bridges, dorm rooms, the Eiffel Tower..."

"It makes more sense to kill yourself at home, though," Sam argued.

Dani chuckled at his phrasing. "So, did she?"

"She did," he confirmed. "According to the papers, it was a case of love gone wrong, but it wasn't a soldier. It was a married guy. His wife found out and Madeline hung herself in her bedroom."

"Oooh." Dani leaned closer to look at his notes. "Scandalous."

"Yep. And I'm betting there are elements of scandal in each of our stories too," Sam said looking up at her with a smile. "I found a few of the older ones. Hannah Abernathy was a teacher and she was rumored to be having an affair with a student. Duncan Foster was cheating on his girlfriend with her best friend, and I hear rumors that Mark Simpson, the guy before Riley, was involved in several different relationships that he wasn't planning on stopping due to a silly little thing like being engaged."

"So it's a vengeful spirit punishing cheaters?" Dean asked, turning off the television.

"Looks like it."

"I'm assuming we're all safe?" Dani asked, glancing at them. "I mean, I've never cheated on anyone before."

"Me neither," Sam said.

They both looked at Dean.

"It's not cheating if you're not exclusive, right?"

"So we'll both keep an eye on Dean," Dani said, grabbing her bag. "Let's go do some grave digging."

* * *

"I take it back, you're a total amateur," Dean said as they walked over to Keller Hall. "You didn't know there was a candlelight vigil tonight?

"I can't know everything!" Dani whispered vehemently. "You guys are supposed to know something."

"I know this used to be a farmhouse," Sam pointed out.

"Well that's just great, Sammy," Dean said, looking around. At least half the campus had turned out for the vigil. "Oh God, they're all crying."

"At least we'll be ignored and it looks like we have a good reason to be here," Dani said optimistically. "Until we start digging. Hopefully, this will keep them distracted."

Dean shone his flashlight over the scene. "Yeah, okay. Let's find us a grave."

"The house would have been back here," Sam said. "Come on."

They walked around to the back of Keller Hall.

"Fan out," Dean said. "I'm assuming we all know what we're looking for."

"Sure," Dani muttered, still feeling more than a little stupid for not knowing about the vigil. "An unmarked grave. In the dark."

Sam gave her a smile and a pat on the back. "Don't be a pessimist."

"I'm a realist!" she called before stepping forward, eyes and flashlight trained on the ground.

An hour and a half later, she ran smack into Dean. "Ouch." she whispered, rubbing her nose vigorously. It stung like crazy. "Are you made of bricks?"

"Thank you," Dean said, giving her a cocky grin. "And I think I found it. See that?"

He pointed the flashlight at a white rock half buried in the ground. "That look like an "m" to you?"

Dani crouched down for a closer look. "Yeah. Hey, you're good."

"I know. All right, let's get digging. Where's Sam?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen him."

"Me neither."

Moving as one, Dani and Dean turned their eyes to Keller Hall. A shape moved in front of one of the windows.

"Sam?" Dean called. The figure paused. It was too tall to be anyone else. "Sam!"

"Uh oh," Dani whispered. "But he's not a cheater!"

"I don't think it fucking matters!" Dean snarled, moving forward.

"No!" Dani threw her arm across his chest. "There's nothing we can do unless we dig her up!"

"Then start digging!"

"You dig, muscle man! I'll go hold it off!"

"With what?" Dean demanded.

"Please," Dani said, taking a second to smile. "I got this, Winchester! Now dig up that grave!"

She bolted for Keller Hall before Dean could argue. Then she realized that the salt was still in the bag she'd left on the ground. Crap. The long iron chain of her cross would have to do.

"Sam!" she yelled as she ran up the steps. "Sam, do you hear me?"

He didn't answer, but she heard a thud that gave her encouragement that she was going in the right direction.

"Sam! Come on, you're way too cute to be a cheater!"

She skidded to a stop in the bell tower as the frigid air took her breath away. Sam stood near the edge of the tower, looking down. Dani reached for him to drag him back and the spirit flashed between them. Before she could get a grip on him, she was flung against the bricks of the stairwell.

"Sam!" Dani gasped out as she caught the handrail to keep from falling down the long staircase. "Please step back."

Her feet left the ground again and her back met the wall once more, driving the air from her lungs. When she fell this time, she smacked her knee on the step and pain radiated down her leg.

"Damn it," she snarled when her teeth went through her lip from the impact. "He's not a cheater! What's your problem?"

"It doesn't matter," Sam said, his voice level and dead sounding. "It's not the cheating, it's the guilt. She's guilty and she knows we are too. It's my fault that Jessica's dead."

"No," Dani said looking up at him from where she'd remained on the stairs. "It's that demon's fault and you know it. So the spirit is guilty...big deal! You're innocent!" The more she spoke the more likely the spirit was to focus on her and leave Sam alone. At least, she hoped that was the case.

Sam winced. "No. I'm the reason she's dead and you're the reason I'll forget her."

"I'm..." Dani trailed off as what remained of Madeline flashed between them again. "Oh crap." She scrambled backward, but the spirit pushed her forward, toward the edge. "So, this is your way of saying you like me? I'm so flattered."

She dug in her heels and the spirit began to laugh. Sam moved forward without resistance. Obviously he was much more willing to take the blame than Dani was. She kept up the chatter, trying to get through to him over the screaming of the wind.

People in the yard began to notice them. One girl shrieked; someone else yelled that they should get security. At least that would distract anyone that might have noticed Dean digging up the grave. Once they were side by side, Dani grabbed onto Sam with both arms and braced her feet against the ledge, leaning back with all her strength. It didn't do any good, because Sam was stronger.

"Come on, Dean, come on!" Dani prayed as Sam moved, causing her to swing out into thin air. She wrapped herself around him more tightly so that he couldn't drop her. Of course, she was totally boned if he jumped now. She closed her eyes tightly and began to pray. To her great relief, there was a sudden shriek and a flash of fire.

The cold disappeared in a rush of heat that left Sam's skin slick against hers. He caught his breath and jerked her back. They both fell onto the hard floor of the bell tower. It hurt, but it was better than the alternative. Dani rolled off of Sam's chest and sat up, rubbing her knee with one hand and wiping the blood from her lip with the other.

"I'm guessing Dean found the grave," she said.

"Dani, I am so sorry," Sam began, but he was interrupted by a panicked bellow from the stairs.

"Sammy!"

"I'm okay," Sam called back.

Dean charged into the room anyway, practically knocking Dani over in his rush to get to his brother.

"Are you sure?" Dean grabbed Sam's jacket and yanked him close, checking for blood or broken bones.

Sam pushed him away. "Yes, Dean. I'm sure. Dani's the one who got hurt."

"Please, no more guilt!" she said quickly. "At least, not when we're this far off the ground. And we should get moving. We've really freaked out the crowd."

Sam helped her up, and put his arm around her waist to help her down the stairs. Some students were headed up as they descended.

"Security," Dean barked. "Nothing to see here, kids."

The blind faith that it took to believe that the dirt covered sweaty dude in ripped jeans was security boggled Dani's mind, but it worked. It had to be in the tone of voice. He'd sounded exactly like a pissed off, crowd controlling security guard. She wondered if he could teach her that. They hurried back to the Impala before anyone could ask questions about the fire blazing merrily in the open grave.

"So it _wasn't_ cheating?" Dean clarified once he was behind the wheel and the college was in their rearview.

"No," Sam answered, swallowing hard. "It's guilt. Madeline knew that what she was doing was wrong...sleeping with John when he was married, but it was more than that. Her father found out. She didn't hang herself; he killed her. She died believing she was a guilty, evil person."

Dani rested her chin on the seat between the guys. "Well, hopefully she's found some kind of peace on the other side."

Dean snorted. "Right."

"And you said _I_ was a pessimist," Dani said to Sam. "You know what I think?"

"What?" Sam asked warily. He felt like an idiot for what had happened. First he'd been dumb enough to develop a little bit of a crush on her and then he'd nearly killed her. Clearly, he was doing a really good job of getting out there, romance wise. Not that he really needed to. The past year hadn't made it any easier to move past losing Jess.

"I think we should go to the beach. You know, celebrate our victory over certain death."

"Hell yeah," Dean said immediately.

"I almost let you fall off of Keller Hall," Sam pointed out. "Are we uh...are we good?"

"I might sleep with Dean tonight to be on the safe side," Dani said with a grin. "But yeah. All's fair in love and hunting, right? And you didn't _actually_ kill me, so I've got no reason to hold a grudge."

* * *

The next day, Dani sat on the beach wriggling her toes in the sand as she watched Dean chat up a women's volleyball team. This had been a great idea.

"Here," Sam said, handing her a bottle of juice.

"Thanks! But you don't have to keep being so nice. I'm all healed up, I swear. My knee looks way worse than it feels." It actually hurt like crazy, but she figured he didn't need additional guilt. Poor guy.

"I know," he said with a shrug, even though he still felt really bad about it. "I'm just a good guy, remember?"

"Oh yeah. You don't wanna get in on the volleyball action?"

"Nah. God knows what Dean's saying. It's better to stay out of his elaborate stories. Some advice? Nod and smile at whatever any of them might say to you. Once in high school, I had to pretend to be deaf for about three weeks."

Dani laughed and stretched out on the towel she'd taken from the hotel. "Gotcha."

"Have you called Jenny and let her know that you're all right?"

Dani thought privately that Jenny would only give her hell for not having "had" one or both of the Winchesters yet. Especially after what Sam had said at the top of Keller Hall.

Sam had slept most of the way to the beach because he'd let her have his bed the night before, claiming that he would get in bed after his research was done. He'd stayed awake all night on purpose and they both knew it. So, he clearly wasn't up for pursuing whatever he might feel about her and she was kind of surprised that he had any feelings at all toward her...so things had been quietly awkward the whole day.

"No, but I guess I should." Dani glanced at her phone and sighed.

"Yeah, well, don't worry, I'm not gonna sit here and listen in on your conversation," he promised. "Think I'm gonna go for a swim."

"Watch out for sharks."

"That's cheerful." He took off his tee shirt and tossed it at her. She could have caught it, but she chose to let it settle over her head instead. It smelled good. It would have also fit her like a dress. That was kind of adorable. She plucked the shirt off of her head and saw that he was still standing there, grinning at her. Mmmm, even more adorable. He was just the right kind of lanky. She found herself grinning back. Unexpected. But kind of nice.

She dialed her sister's number as he walked toward the ocean. He even had a nice back.

"I liiiiiiive!" she announced in her best monster voice.

"So you convinced the Winchesters, I take it?"

"Yep. And despite the best efforts of the vengeful spirit, we all lived to tell the tale."

"Aw, I'm so proud."

"I _was_ awesome," Dani said, trying to keep a straight face.

"So?" she asked. "Which one did you get?"

"Technically, I can claim no credit," Dani admitted. "Dean is the one who dug her up."

Jenny sighed again. "I meant which Winchester did you have? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge."

"Oh. Well, I'll have you know that they competed for the chance to go to bed with me."

"Competed, eh? What was it, rock, paper, scissors?"

"Yep. It was hardcore."

"Well?"

"Well, they play in the normal style. One, two, three, shoot."

"Shut up and tell me who won."

"Guess."

There was a long pause and finally Jenny said, "It was Otis."

"Yeah."

"Good for you, taking those puppy dog eyes for your own! Although, I'm not sure how well that translates in the bedroom."

"Yeah, me neither. Anyway..." Dani was starting to regret starting this conversation. Any second now...

"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. So...you didn't see puppy dog eyes in the bedroom?"

"No one wants that!" Dani said vehemently. Maybe if she could Jenny distracted on the generalities of sex, she would stop focusing on the specifics. "How many of your "friends" give you the puppy dog eyes in bed?"

"I'm not the one who goes for puppy dog eyes, so none. But, about you, did you sleep with him or not?"

"Technically, yes."

"Technically? You slept in the same bed?"

Dani cleared her throat and wriggled her toes in the sand.

"You pussy," her sister said flatly.

"I've known him for less than a week. I have standards!"

"And you think I don't have standards?" Jenny said, affronted. "I have standards! Screw you!"

"Oh come on, I didn't say that!" Dani glanced up as a shadow fell over the towel.

"Are you sure you're not going to swim?" Sam asked.

He'd never been more of a knight in shining armor. Even if he was technically a knight in swimming trunks.

"Yes!" Dani said in relief. "See, Jenny, I have to swim now, so, you know..."

"Put Sam on the phone!"

"What? No!"

"Do it! Doooo iiiiiit," Jenny said in a menacing tone.

Dani sighed and handed Sam the phone.

"It's my sister. I'm sure you remember her. And how she's crazy."

"Um, hello?" Sam said.

"What have you been doing with my sister? Or should I ask, what _haven't_ you been doing with my sister? Why aren't you doing things with my sister?"

"I didn't! I'm...what?" Sam asked in confusion. "What do you _want_ me to do to your sister?"

Dani covered her face with her hands. Why did she always give in to her little sister? "Gimme the phone."

"She says you haven't even touched her! Oh my God, what's wrong with you? Look at her! Don't you think she's pretty?"

"I have! I mean, not...I do think she's...um." He couldn't figure out what to say. Hell yeah he thought that she was pretty. And then he'd almost killed her. It wasn't the best beginning.

Dani stood up and held her hand out. "Give me the phone, Sam!"

"She needs affection and you're there, so give her the affection she needs."

"Um, I think Dani wants to talk to you," Sam said, glancing at Dani who was now tugging on his arm, her entire face beet red.

"Can't talk," Jenny said, suddenly businesslike. "Gotta go, bye!"

"Yeah, but...okay." Sam handed the phone back to Dani, who threw it onto her towel.

"Swimming?" she asked casually.

"Sure."

"You can't listen to the things she says," Dani went on as they walked toward the ocean. "She's a nympho."

Sam glanced at Dean. "I think I can relate."

**A/N: The title of this chapter is also the title of an Alice Cooper song and, since I forgot to mention it in chapter one, that title is the title of a song by the White Stripes. Credit where credit is due, yo! Now I can sleep at night!**


	5. Suzanne Beware of the Devil Part One

February 10, 2007

Roppongi District, Tokyo, Japan

"Why isn't she picking up the phone? Grr." Jenny muttered as she bounced her pen on her desk, drawing unwanted attention from the men sitting around her. "What? Don't you have your own jobs to do?" They swiftly turned back to their computer screens at her annoyed words. "Fucking suits. Answer the phone, Dani!"

"Hello?" Dani said, sounding out of breath.

"Oh, are you with Milo and Otis? Don't tell me you've given up on choosing and I've interrupted you taking them both just now." Jenny's irritable voice belied her jokes. "But seriously, don't tell me you're with those idiots."

"Taking them-" Dani began in confusion. "Oh. Haha. No. I wasn't near the phone." She cleared her throat and leaned against the car. She'd just finished changing her oil, and had had to scramble out from under the car to get to the phone. "Why? What's the deal?"

Jenny sputtered for a couple of minutes. "You don't know? You really don't know? Where the fucking hell have you been? Hiding under a rock? It's all over the hunter network!" She got up and stepped into the hall, to avoid the glares of her coworkers, but more importantly to avoid them hearing the literally earth shattering news she had to break to her sister. "They opened a devil's gate. All hell has, in fact, broken loose. And if I've heard right, your dear daddy was right there with them, watching it happen."

""Again, slower, and not in Japanese."

Jenny took a breath. "Sorry. There was a devil's gate in Wyoming, and Bobby was there to watch the Winchesters open it." She enunciated each syllable in an angry whisper. "Those fools. Those idiots!" Gradually her voice rose and soon she was yelling. "I can't believe we trusted them. We were right there! We should have killed them when we had the chance!"

Dani said the only thing that came to mind. "Balls."

"Balls indeed," Jenny agreed. "To quote a man I once thought was great: 'those idjits'."

"We have to find them. Tell me you're calling from a plane."

"I've only just heard it myself. I'm still in Roppongi but I've got my ticket and I'm headed there now."

"Good. I just finished up a job here in Utah, so I'm not that far out. I can meet you at the airport." Dani got closed Sally's hood with a clang and jumped in, revving her engine. "What would possess someone to open a Devil's Gate?"

Jenny sighed. "I'll be in Wyoming by morning. I thought they had at least some sense. And that Bobby was involved…."

"There's got to be a good reason," Dani said firmly, even though she couldn't think of one. "We'll figure it out, okay?"

"We'll talk about it when I get there," Jenny said and hung up.

Dani chewed her lip. She'd heard from Sam right after he and Dean had gotten out of prison and he hadn't _sounded_ like he was planning to open any Devil's Gates. It must have been an accident, but it really wasn't like him or his brother to make rookie mistakes. And Bobby! Was that why he hadn't been in touch lately?

She pushed the gas pedal to the floorboard and glanced at the clock as she dialed Dean's number. She wasn't surprised when it went straight to voicemail. Sam's did the same, and so did Bobby's. She flung the phone into the passenger seat and sighed. Then she pulled over and sent a text to Sam. "_Avoiding me is not the way to go, dork._"

* * *

"I'm starting to feel bad about that end of the world joke I made a few months ago," Dani said when she picked her sister up at the airport. "Think I'm psychic and I don't know it?"

"I doubt it," Jenny grumbled. "At least if you were, you should have seen this coming and we could have stopped it."

"I don't think anyone saw this coming," Dani said. "One of them looks like a puppy for Pete's sake. A puppy! Maybe we should get a newspaper and smack him with it when we get there. I hear that works."

"I'll hit them with something… probably Sally." Jenny smirked. "So, do you have any idea where they are now?"

"Yep. I called Bobby for about an hour and when he finally picked up, I asked if now was a good time for a visit. I got a resounding no, so I asked him where he was. He hemmed and hawed, but he finally told me the state and I heard Sam saying something in the background. Then I heard Dean shushing him." Dani grinned and shook her head. "So cute, both of them. Anyway, Sam texted me after that." She handed her sister the phone displaying the terse message, "_Blue Anchor Inn. Don't tell Dean I told you._" She grinned. "He wants to see me."

Jenny didn't acknowledge that as she shut her laptop. "Cute but not so smart. There is so much activity right now that it's clogging every system I can hack."

"We'll be there soon enough anyway," Dani said with a sigh. "I always figured something would kill me before the end of the world got all good and started. This is a little out of the blue. Just like the idea of a nautical theme in Wyoming."

* * *

Dani slammed her car door and walked up the stairs loudly. She knew there was no escape route from the room and she wanted them to know she was coming. She considered it payback for the worry they'd caused her by not answering the phone.

"Bobby!" she yelled as she banged on the motel room door.

"You know I can pick the lock if you don't open this door, Bobby! And I can hear you shushing in there, Dean!" Jenny called in a sing song voice.

"Yeah, you're not a super sneaky shusher," Dani added.

The door was yanked open abruptly and they found themselves face to face with Dean.

"Now's not a good time," he said, starting to close the door again.

Dani wiggled around him and into the room while Jenny simply shoved him back.

"Sure as _hell_ isn't, is it?" she spat. "_Hell_ of a bad time to come by, right? You'd think _hell_ would have frozen over for us to come over at a time like this, eh?"

Dani snickered. There was palpable tension in the air, but puns were her favorite form of humor.

"You might ask what the _hell_ we're doing here," Jenny continued, egged on by her sister's laughter. When Dean gave her a look of combined frustration and annoyance she gave it up though. "Oh for fuck's sake, we know about the Devil's Gate and you could have at least called."

"You...how do _you_ know?" Sam asked carefully. He was relieved to see Dani, but he hadn't expected her sister to show up again. He certainly hadn't expected Dani to rat him out, but Jenny looked decidedly unfriendly toward them all at the moment.

"I do this professionally," Jenny reminded him. "I have connections. Some of them even monitor you idiots."

Oh. So Jenny had told Dani, and not the other way around. At least Dani hadn't sold him out.

"What the hell for?" Dean demanded.

"Stuff like this, probably," Dani said as she stretched up and hugged Sam. Her breath caught as he wrapped his arms around her in return. He looked so worried that she felt a heartstring tug. "Chin up, Sam. We're here to help."

"Or help the world by going ahead and…" Jenny started, her hand on the gun at her belt.

Dani shifted position, putting her back to Sam's chest. Not that it really mattered. He was a freaking giant. A confused looking adorable puppy giant who seemed to have no clue that other hunters might be angry that he'd helped open a Devil's Gate.

"Like hell," Dean snarled, starting forward.

"Whoa now. We're just chatting, right?" Dani said, keeping her tone calm. She gave her sister a smile that said, "_Please don't shoot these guys. I like these guys."_

"For the moment." Jenny perched on top of the table in front of the beds and set her gun beside her. "How the fuck did this even happen? I expect this from rookies like them, but Bobby, honestly?"

"It got a little confused," Bobby said, not sounding exactly pleased to be explaining himself to Jenny. "Sam died and-"

"What?" Dani demanded, turning around and looking up at Sam. "You _died_?"

"Um. It's complicated." He rubbed his forehead and grimaced. "Anyway, we didn't set out to open a Devil's Gate. We-"

"Look, we were trying to stop it, but there wasn't time. There was this guy like Sam and he was going to kill Ellen and he had the gun and then the gate opened and we were fucked," Dean said quickly. "It's not Sam's fault."

"Um…" Jenny and Dani looked at each other in confusion.

"We weren't even the ones who opened it! We're the ones who closed it! So don't sit there judging us!" Dean snapped.

Dani hooked her thumbs into her belt loops and made her posture as nonthreatening as possible. "Take it easy. I'm just happy Sam's back in the land of the living." When that didn't seem to smooth his ruffled feathers, she looked at him a little more closely. He looked tired and really wound up. "Are you okay, Dean?"

"Fine," Dean said, giving Sam a quelling look when he opened his mouth. "You wanted to talk, then talk," he said to Jenny, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm dying to hear your big, professional, ideas for getting rid of these sons of bitches."

"Actually, my big idea was to kill the two of you and then go take care of that." Jenny shrugged. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, geez. But we need to nip this shit in the bud. I've already got feelers out and it seems like the plague hasn't made its way out of the states. We've got that on our side."

"Do you have a starting point?" Dani asked, ignoring Dean's swears and Sam's hurt expression. She never would have let Jenny kill them, even if she was serious about trying. For all Dani knew, this was some kind of scare tactic Jenny had learned in her Japanese office. It wasn't like her sister was a stone cold mercenary or anything. Not unless Japan was way weirder than she'd imagined it.

Jenny shrugged. "There's a huge influx of activity right now. We should probably take a few days and see where it concentrates. Then we can spread out. I'd like to go our separate ways as soon as possible."

"Fine by me," Dean said. "I don't need Professor Know It All hanging over my shoulder while I'm trying to work."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Professor Know It All? That is the best you've got? You could have called me Bitchy McBitcherson and it would have been more effective."

Dean pointed at her. "This is exactly what I'm talking about."

Jenny threw up her hands. "Sorry. Sorry. Didn't mean to hit a nerve." She turned to her sister, pulling her aside. "Are you up for this? You know how demons are. They target your weak spots."

"And?" Dani asked with a casual smile.

"And worrying about the rest of the world is going to be hard enough without having to worry about you too. I know you know what I'm talking about," Jenny said with a sigh.

"This is my job. If I didn't think I could do it, I wouldn't be here." Dani turned to Bobby. "So? What's, uh, what's up, Bobby?"

"Just the end of the world," he said, looking from Dani to Jenny questioningly. "Is there something we should know?"

"No," Dani said flatly. "You know how it is. Sisters. Worrying. I say we head out. Get this under control as soon as possible, you know? What do you guys think?"

"I think that you need to tell…" Jenny started.

"Them that we haven't eaten yet?" Dani asked, speaking quickly over what her sister was saying. "That's a great idea! We should eat! We'll do that after you and I get a room." She swept the room with a glance, annoyed to find everyone staring at her with either concern or curiosity. Sam managed both. "Everybody stop staring at me and let's get moving!"

Jenny and Dean stared menacingly at each other as everyone else filed past them. Suddenly it dawned on her that he looked a little… different.

"You ok, Winchester?" she asked as casually as she could.

"The damn world's ending. What the hell do you want from me?"

"But you…" she began.

"But you need to mind your own business for once," he said as he followed the others out of the room.

Jenny sighed. "Great. I should have just stayed in Roppongi."

* * *

"Well," Dani said once her sister had flatly refused to remain at the Blue Anchor Inn. "I gotta say…the new hotel looks a lot better than the old one."

"You're welcome for that," Jenny said as she handed out keys. "I thought we could stay somewhere that didn't have a theme for once."

Dani's mouth drooped. "No theme?"

"But there is an indoor pool. And clean beds," Jenny said enthusiastically.

"A pool?" Dani glanced over at it. "Well done, little sister. We're totally going swimming after we get set up." She pointed at Sam. "Bring your broody brother."

"Yeah, sure thing."

Dani hefted her duffle bag and then grabbed her sister's rolling suitcase as Jenny headed toward the room. She started to follow, but Sam put his hand on her shoulder.

"Hang on for a second." He hadn't had the chance he'd wanted to speak with her with all the drama of switching hotels and helping her intervene to stop fights between Jenny and Dean.

"What is it?"

"Thanks for, uh, sticking up for me. Us. Back there." Sam pushed his hands into his pockets and hunched his shoulders. "I really appreciate it."

Dani patted his cheek. "I got you, kid."

Surprise crossed his features, and then a grin followed. "You're a cold woman, you know that?"

"That was revenge. Revenge takes a certain amount of heat, no matter what conventional wisdom might say."

"Yeah? Well, I can still do this." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulled her back to his chest and messed up her hair before running for the stairs.

"You will pay!" Dani called after him. "Your height can't shield you forever!"

Bobby, who had pulled into the parking lot just in time to see the whole thing, glanced from Dani to Sam's retreating back.

"Oh come on," Dani said. "Don't dad all over it." She caught up with Jenny before he could say anything. It had been a nice moment and honestly, it had been forever since she'd been that close to a guy. She found herself remembering the feel of his warmth against her back.

"Would you really have shot Sam?" she asked once she and Jenny were in their room. "I'm not going to ask about Dean, because, man, you guys _really_ have friction, but Otis? And Bobby? My _dad_?"

Jenny shrugged idly. "I dunno… I'm pretty pissed. Probably not Bobby."

"Well good. It'd be a real Lifetime moment for me." Dani made her voice deep and said, "Just when she finally found her father...her half sister blows him away in a fit of anger. Torn between love for her sister and the fifth commandment, what will Dani do now?" She grinned. "That was pretty good, actually."

"It's a plausible storyline," Jenny agreed. "So I get you being up in arms about me pointing my pistol at Bobby, but what does Sam have to do with it? You shoot one brother, you've shot them all… all for one and one for all… I was all in for the brother shooting… I could go on…"

"Yeah, but I'm glad you stopped," Dani said with a smile. "And...you know...he's cute." She turned away, hoping that her sister wouldn't pursue the subject.

"Not 'open a Devil's Gate and get away with it' cute. Besides, I get some weird vibes off of him. I can't exactly explain it, but he just feels…dark," Jenny argued thoughtfully.

"He's not _dark_. Okay. Here's the deal. Sam...he's..." Dani chewed on her lip rings. "I'm not exactly sure. I mean, he's not supernatural, I know that. But he gets these...visions? I guess that's what you'd call them. Premonitions. It just started a while back, but he's always right. And he always helps! So, you know, not dark."

Jenny shook her head. "Premonitions are not a thing a normal person does, Dani. It's either something you're born into, and I don't see that being the case or it would have come up before, or it's something you're given and that is… worse."

"So we'll just keep an eye on him. I can't let you shoot Sam." Dani sighed at her sister's look of incredulous worry and irritation. "I'm gonna have to tell you thing, aren't I?"

Jenny nodded slowly. "I find that having all of the information is almost always useful."

"It's not a big deal. It's just that, and you can't tell Dean this by the way because the whole premonition deal really freaks him out, Sam sort of saved my life two months ago. If I let you shoot him I'm a douche. I don't want to be a douche, Jenny!"

"So, if I shoot him behind your back it will be ok?" Jenny snarked. "But what were you doing that got you into so much trouble they had to bail you out?"

"Remember the poltergeist that I was telling you about? And how you made fun of me for calling Bobby to get one of his buddies to take care of it?"

"Yeah. I don't understand why you don't just get yourself an actual partner."

"Yeah well. Anyway, the reason I called Bobby is because, according to Sam, it killed me. In a really gross way. He didn't skimp on the details." Dani stuck her tongue out and grimaced. "It was nasty and bloody and it sounded super painful. So he might have opened a Devil's Gate, but he's also the reason I'm alive."

"Fine, so I don't kill him now, but mark my words, that kid is trouble." Jenny growled. "Trouble with an asshole for a brother."

"Dean's not so bad," Dani said as she counted her money, which was getting depressingly low. When she glanced up from the bills she saw that her sister was glaring at her. "Come on! I thought you wanted to do him last time. What happened?"

"That was just lust at first glance. He rubs me the wrong way, what can I say?"

"Okay," Dani said with a shrug. "So we won't be hanging out much once the job is done, huh? I guess I can go off into the sunset all by my lonesome. Or maybe I could team up with them. What do you think?"

"I'm a little scared that if I leave you alone you're going to end up either dead or married to one of those idiots."

Dani laughed. "Dead or married? Why do I have a feeling that you think that married is worse?"

"Because it is basically the same thing only I'd have to deal with your constant whining." Jenny grinned.

"Cold," Dani said. "So cold. And they don't look like the marrying type. Maybe I could just live in sin with one of them." She pulled a few 10's out of her skimpy stack of cash and stuffed them into the front pocket of her jeans before pushing what little remained into a hidden pocket in her duffle bag.

"And just draw the demons to you?" Jenny laughed. "As if you need more trouble following you around."

"That's true. I already have you."

"Oh, do shut up."

"There's only one way to keep me quiet," Dani said, opening the door and walking across the hall to knock on Sam and Dean's door. "Feed me. And the poor Winchesters, who are probably a little unnerved by you at this point."

"Good." Jenny said as she followed her sister out. "I want to keep it that way."

* * *

At the diner they'd all managed to agree on, Dani glanced around the table. Jenny and Dean were still glaring at each other and Bobby had a narrow gaze on Sam, who was shifting nervously.

She sat up straighter and smiled, forcing some cheer into her voice. "This is nice, right?"

Jenny broke her glare away from Dean and glanced at Sam. "So, did you take my advice? Did you?" She cocked her head toward Dani significantly. "Eh?"

"Um. No," Sam said, taking a drink of his water. The drink got longer and longer as everyone watched him.

"Advice?" Dani asked, mainly to keep him from drowning in his water glass. He choked and shook his head emphatically. Her face flooded crimson when she figured out what her sister was talking about. Sam had caught on faster and that was why he was presently hacking up a lungful of water while Dean pounded him on the back.

Bobby cleared his throat. "We don't need to worry about that."

"Nobody's worried about that," Sam agreed, wiping his mouth.

"_I'm_ worried about that," Jenny contradicted.

Dani threw her hands up. "Oh, let it go. He doesn't want me, okay? He had sex with a werewolf a while back. Clearly he isn't pining." Whatever Sam had felt for her back in the summer had apparently turned into simple friendship and she was cool with that. Totally cool. Absolutely not upset. In the slightest.

Sam dropped his face into his hands. "You told her that?"

Dean shrugged. "Hey, it happened, didn't it?"

A heartfelt groan was Sam's only answer. He could feel Bobby looking at him incredulously and he wished that Dean had kept his big mouth shut for once in his life.

"I've got an idea!" Dani cut in. "It's like a game. You know, a fun little game." She glanced around the table. Nobody seemed much worried about that either, but she steamrolled on. "We should get to know each other better, right? I mean, Jenny barely knows you guys at all. So, let's all say one thing that no one else knows about themselves."

There was silence.

"I'll go first." She took a sip of her Pepsi and thought hard. "Um. Okay. I played piano for twelve years."

"I know that already," Jenny said.

Dani stuck her tongue out at her sister.

"Uh, I didn't start eating salad until college," Sam said, glad of a change in subject.

Dani was relieved that he wasn't mad at her for calling out his sex life in front of her dad. In hindsight, it had been a shitty thing to do. "See, helpful people exist. Come on, someone else...just dive right in."

"I did LSD for the first time last summer. It was fun!" Jenny said.

"I did that once," Dean said, getting a double take from Sam. "I spent the whole night chasing pixies that weren't there."

Dani snorted. "Pixies? Loser."

"Hey, those little sons of bitches are creepy when you're high," Dean said seriously.

Jenny nodded sagely.

Dani kept quiet and looked at the salads the waitress had just dropped in front of Jenny and Sam with derision, feeling better about her burger every moment. Sam seemed to feel the same way as he poked at the wilted greens with his fork.

"All right, well...I feel like we've made progress," Dani said insincerely.

"Have you seen this?" Jenny asked, rustling the newspaper she'd been reading. "Three are found dead in what appears to be a bear attack just outside of Riverton."

"So?" Dean asked, biting into his burger and continuing with a mouthful of meat, bread, and cheese. "We not that far from Yellowstone."

"But there was a survivor," Jenny countered. "And she's been admitted to the psych ward of the local hospital, claiming that what she saw was the devil, who she thinks was punishing them for sneaking out against their parents' wishes."

"Sounds like our kind of thing," Bobby agreed.

"Or she could just be freaked out and thought the bear was a demon because she knew she shouldn't have been where she was," Dean argued as he smacked Dani's hand away from his fries. It wasn't his fault that he'd gotten more than she had.

"Or she could have seen a demon killing her friends and they all deserve to be avenged," Jenny said quietly.

Dean shook his head. Where the hell did this kid get off telling him how to do his job? "She would have said it was a person if it was a demon."

"Demons can do odd things to their hosts." Jenny shrugged. "Whatever happened, I don't want to write it off just yet."

"Have fun with that then." At least it would get her off his fucking back and he could tell Dani to buy her sexy, irritating sister a plane ticket back to wherever the hell she'd come in from so he could get some work done. Jenny distracted him.

"Don't be such a pansy," Dani said, knowing that this was the best way to get him to come along. She liked Dean and she wanted him to get along with Jenny. The best way to get them to get along was to make them respect each other. Ergo...forced hunting. "Come check it out with us."

"Pansy?" Sam asked in mild amusement, pushing his disgusting salad away and taking advantage of Dean's distraction to scoop up a handful of fries.

"I'm not a pansy!" Dean said viciously. "We've got more important things to deal with than every little bear attack in the paper."

"I'm staying," Bobby said, leaning back in his seat. He raised an eyebrow at Dani to show her that he was on her side and she held back a grin. "Walking away without even checking would be plain dumb if you ask me."

"No one did," Dean snarled, but he backed down when Bobby looked at him.

"I think they're right, Dean," Sam ventured. "We should at least check it out, talk to the witness..."

"Fine." Dean turned his attention back to his plate. Why the hell should anything in his life start going right now? And where the hell were his fries?

"I guess that's good then," Jenny mumbled.

"I think so," Dani said with a nod. "So you're going to talk to the witnesses. I'll stay behind and research with Sam-"

"I'll help with that," Dean said quickly, making Sam stare at him in frank disbelief.

"Perfect," Jenny said with poisonous sweetness.

Dani sighed. So much for that plan.

* * *

"Excuse me." Jenny smiled at the nurse behind the reception counter in the hospital's psych ward. "We're from the Yellowstone Ranger police and we'd like to ask Julie Romaro a few questions." She and Bobby flashed their ranger ids at her.

"Oh, the poor girl who saw her friends get mauled by that bear?" The nurse pressed her hand to her chest and shook her head. "I don't think she's seeing visitors today."

"I understand that this is a hard time for everyone, but we really need to get as much information as possible so that we can stop this animal from causing any more fatalities," Jenny told her sympathetically.

"Well, I don't want anyone else to get hurt," the nurse said uncertainly. "Just sign in here and I'll escort you down."

"You're pretty good, kid," Bobby whispered as they walked down the hallway.

Jenny grinned broadly. "Well, thank you very much. Jack's the one with the silver tongue but I did learn a few things from watching him."

"Maybe I ought to take Dani on a few runs too, show her the ropes," Bobby muttered thoughtfully. They probably didn't spend enough time together. He was pretty damn proud of the way she'd turned out too and it might be fun to work a case with her.

"You know, I think she'd like that!" Jenny agreed. Dani didn't have too many daddy issues, but it wouldn't hurt Bobby to be a little more present. "Thank you so much, ma'am," she said to the nurse when they arrived at the room.

Julie was sitting on the couch by the window. Despite the light coming in through the bars, it was still a stark room. An older lady was watching her through squinted eyes from a chair close to the door.

"Excuse me," Jenny said as they walked in. "We're with-"

"We said that we don't want any visitors," the woman snapped before Jenny could finish.

"This ain't a social call. We're Rangers," Bobby told her coldly. "We're here to ask some questions."

"We told the police everything we had to say," the woman said, not backing down.

"I'm sorry for imposing, but we haven't caught the bear yet, and any information on what Julie might have seen that night would be incredibly helpful," Jenny offered.

"It wasn't a bear," Julie said suddenly.

"Julie, be quiet!" the woman snapped.

"It wasn't! It was the devil! I'm so sorry, Mama! I never should have gone out!"

"What did the devil look like?" Jenny asked gently.

"He was fast. So fast that I couldn't really see him. But I know that he was tall...or long... I think he walked on four legs...maybe," Julie said with wide eyes.

"Julie! That is enough! You've been bad enough without all of these lies!" The mother stood up. "I think you should go now." She practically shoved Jenny and Bobby into the hallway and shut the door.

"Oh!" Jenny cried when the door hit her in the nose. "That went... well?"

Bobby shrugged. "At least we know what we're dealing with. Come on, let's go tell 'em."

* * *

"So, it's a Wendigo?" Dani asked eagerly when Jenny and Bobby came back.

"Yes," Jenny repeated forlornly.

"Sweet! I've always wondered if they were really real!"

"They're real." Jenny sighed. "Really real and really creepy. Ugh."

"They aren't all that bad," Dean said with a shrug. So there were things the little princess didn't want to hunt after all. Maybe now she'd beat it.

Sam looked up from his notebook. "Yeah right. That's why the last one almost killed you."

"I found its hideout, didn't I?"

"By getting kidnapped," Sam pointed out.

Jenny giggled. "You got kidnapped."

Dean pointed at her and said, "I did not get kidnapped. Now where the hell were these dumbasses camping?"

"They weren't camping," Jenny said. "They were in town."

Sam and Dean exchanged a glance. "Are you sure it's a Wendigo?" Sam asked. "There's no lore on them attacking people out in the open."

"She said it was too fast to see and she couldn't decide whether it was long or tall," Bobby said. "I know a few things too, idjit."

"And not all rules are followed to the letter," Jenny added. "It isn't as if the monster police are going to give them a ticket for not being in the woods."

"Yeah, that's pretty much our job," Dani said with a grin. "Who's up for a trip to town?"

"I'm kind of tired." Jenny faked a yawn. "You all go on. I'll wait here."

"What?" Dani demanded. "You're really just going to sit this one out? You?"

"That's cool," Dean said, relieved. "I'll go with you."

"Sam?" Dani asked.

"Sure," he said. "You've fried one Wendigo you've fried them all. Bobby?"

Bobby shrugged. "If you don't think you can handle it, I guess I can come along."

Sam and Dean both looked surprised, but Dani laughed and looped her arm through Bobby's.

"Gonna show 'em how it's done, huh?"

"Believe it or not, they ain't even as smart as they look."

Dani grinned. "I've missed the good old Bobby snark."

"Yeah, ain't he a peach?" Dean grumbled.

They walked down to the center of town. There was a fountain in the middle of a group of shops and Dani sat on the edge of it, shoving her hands into her pockets and wishing like hell that she had on as many layers as the Winchesters. Wyoming was impossibly cold to her Louisiana blood.

"I still wouldn't have believed that a Wendigo would attack somebody right out here," she said.

"Me neither," Sam agreed. "But look at that." Dani glanced down and saw deep claw marks along the fountain's base. "This is where one of the guys was killed."

Dani traced her fingers along the marks. "They must have been seriously freaked out."

"I don't know how much we're going to learn here," Dean said after they'd gone over the whole square. "There's no tracks to follow, no signs of anything except the stuff we already know about. I mean, what the hell is this thing's problem, anyway?"

"Yeah," Dani joked half heartedly. "It's like it's new at this whole "Wendigo" thing."

"Wait," Sam said, pausing the middle of the street. "It _is_ like that."

"Yeah, so?" Dean asked.

"So, maybe it's a new Wendigo. Maybe someone in town might-"

"Have noticed that their neighbor is turning into Hannibal Lecter?" Dean questioned. "Come on, Sammy."

"No, I think it makes sense," Bobby said. "In the paper the mother mentioned something about the neighborhood going to hell."

"And there have been a lot of calls to animal control in the past few weeks," Sam added. "Mostly just noise complaints, but-"

"Dogs hate anything supernatural," Dani cut in eagerly. "That would fit!"

"Exactly!" Sam gave her a smile. She was so cute when she was excited about something. He would have sworn that she was a second away from clapping her hands and jumping up and down. "We should check out the neighborhood."

"You think he's gonna have a big sign on his door? Wendigo lives here?" Dean asked.

"We know he's a newbie," Dani said. "So, maybe."

A/N: Suzanne, Beware of the Devil is a song by (the improbably named) Dandy Livingstone


	6. Suzanne Beware of the Devil Part Two

"No sign, but I'd say that's a pretty good indication that something's off," Sam said, pointing at the overgrown lawn of a ramshackle house. The mailbox was stuffed with ignored mail and there was a broken window upstairs.

Dean pulled out a flare gun as they headed up the steps. "Looks crazy," he said, seeing Dani's surprised look, "But it fucking works."

They walked in carefully. The place was a mess. Flies buzzed around a pile of something that Dani didn't want to think about in the corner of the front room.

"Looks like he's not savin' 'em for later," Bobby said with a shake of his head.

Dean nodded. Sam glanced at Dani. She looked more sad than grossed out. He put his hand on her shoulder briefly and she glanced up at him, giving him a quick "I'm ok" smile.

Once they'd made sure that the house was empty, Dani stepped out into the backyard. It was just as unkempt as the front, but other than that it wasn't remarkable. She sighed. Wendigos who didn't follow the rules were a real pisser. Dean stepped up beside her.

"Anything?"

She shook her head. "But hey, can you be a little nicer to my sister?"

"What?" Dean assumed his most innocent expression. "I'm nice to everybody."

"Liar."

"Okay, but...come on!" She got under his fucking skin with her prissy ways and her assumptions that she was the smartest person in the room just because she'd been to college. Fuck that. He didn't give a damn how hot she was, it didn't make her better than any of them.

"She's been out of the country for a while. She's not used to such a shining example of American male...uh..." Dani searched for the right word.

"Jerkishness?" Sam supplied from her other side.

Dani grinned and smacked Dean on the shoulder. "The longer you know her, the more you'll like her. Just be the bigger man, is all I'm saying. You like me, right? Do me this favor and I will owe you."

"You're going to regret saying that," Sam said mournfully as a grin spread over Dean's face.

"Done," he said before Dani could take it back. "I'll be on my best behavior from now on."

"Well, don't go nuts or anything. You're the lovable asshole, after all."

"What does that make me?" Sam asked.

Dani didn't appear to take time to think about it. "Bookish nerd."

Dean laughed at the dismay on Sam's face. That was clearly not the way his little brother wanted Dani to see him. "What about you?"

"I'm the friendly ass kicker. You know, the one who always ends up in the fight despite trying to work things out in other ways. I'm also the one who's going to find a pool since I couldn't find a Wendigo."

"A pool?" Sam asked, following them back through the house. "Shouldn't we go through the local papers? Try to find out more about this house?"

Dean stopped and stared at his brother. "My God, do you hear yourself?"

"Yeah," Sam said with a sigh. "Okay. Pool."

* * *

"So then Sam wet his pants."

"He did not!" Dani protested through her laughter at Dean's story.

She and Dean were the only ones down at the pool. Jenny was taking an absurdly long time getting ready, and Sam had sat down at his laptop, vowing to "only check one thing." Dean knew how that was going to go. He and Dani had been comparing work stories for about half an hour.

"He says he didn't, but I don't believe him. The point is that we..."

"What? Did you get the clown or not?" Dani demanded when he stopped.

"I'm okay," Dean said absently.

Dani turned to see what he was looking at and saw Jenny walking in wearing a midthigh length pink and blue kimono with long sleeves that fell past her hands. Her hair was curled around her face and pulled back with a pair of oversized sunglasses.

"Liking my sister a little more now, huh?" she asked in amusement. Then her jaw dropped as Jenny took off the robe and Dean grinned like it was Christmas. Dani smacked him in the chest. "Stop staring!"

She got up and walked over to where her sister stood when Dean didn't even seem to notice being hit. It appeared that she'd have to block the view physically.

"Dude!"

"What?" Jenny asked nonchalantly, adjusting her bikini bottom to fit a bit more snugly. "Close your mouth; you'll catch flies like that."

"I think you forgot 90% of your bathing suit!" Dani protested, looking at the strings and patches that her sister considered swimwear.

"She looks fine!" Dean called.

"It's called a bikini. You should take notes. For when you buy a bathing suit." She glanced at Dani's tank top and board shorts in mild disdain.

Dani glanced down at herself too. "This is fine. It's multipurpose and I don't have to worry about things popping out. Or giving Dean an aneurysm."

Jenny shrugged. "If things pop out, they pop out. And if he gets an aneurysm he deserves it."

Sam opened the door, talking to Bobby about Wendigos. "Hey, Dani and...wow. I mean, hey."

"Smooth," Dani said wryly. "Hey guys."

"Put some clothes on, you idjit," Bobby said, throwing his towel around Jenny's shoulders.

Jenny threw the towel off. "I look fine! I've been wearing this bathing suit for a whole season now!"

"She does look fine," Dean said, moving closer to the group. "Why are we making a big deal about this?"

Dani rolled her eyes. "And you thought he was interested in me," she said in an undertone to Jenny.

Jenny shrugged. "If you were wearing this, he probably would be."

"Do you have one?" Dean asked hopefully.

"Dean, they're not your harem," Sam protested. "They're intelligent, modern women who could probably kick your ass."

Dani gave him a thumbs up.

"Aw, is that what you want?" Jenny teased, ignoring Sam. "Do you want a harem?"

Dean shrugged. "I'm game if you are."

Dani shook her head firmly. "You can't have sisters in your harem."

"Why can't I have sisters?"

"It's icky."

"You're icky," Jenny said, poking Dani in the forehead.

Dani responded by pushing her into the pool. "Haha!"

"Is that what you're wearing into the pool?" Dean asked, looping his arm over her shoulders.

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason," he answered casually. "Hey, Sam! Look at that!"

Sam stepped up beside Dean. "What?"

Dean shoved them both into the water. "Two for one!"

Sam pushed his wet hair out of his eyes. "You're an ass, Dean!"

"I don't see what you're complaining about," Jenny said floating by on a pink, ducky printed blow up. "The water's great."

"Bobby, he's picking on me!" Dani whined and seconds later, Dean was shoved into the pool with the rest of them.

He retaliated by dunking Dani, who in her struggles to get back above the surface, dumped Jenny off her float. She'd barely surfaced when Jenny dunked her again.

One of Dani's flailing hands met the one Sam was holding out to her and he pulled her up. Jenny and Dean converged on her purposefully. Dani shrieked and ducked behind Sam. When that didn't alter their course, she jumped up as Sam sank down and she found herself perched on his shoulders in a moment of perfectly synchronized thinking.

She whooped in victory and spread her arms. "I'm the King of the world! The amazingly tall King of the world!"

Jenny swatted a wall of water at her sister before turning to Dean. "Here, put me on your shoulders."

"What?" Dean asked. The whole thing was moving kind of fast, considering that he'd just discovered that he didn't exactly hate her. At least, not while she was in that bikini. Maybe she could just wear that for the rest of the time she was here.

"I have to beat her!" Jenny pouted. "Please help me, Dean. You're my only hope!"

"Um, okay." Dean ducked under her and lifted her out of the water. Dani had asked him to get along with her, after all. He was doing his friend a favor.

"You have been challenged, big sister!" Jenny announced gleefully. "And now we shall duel!"

"And I shall be victorious!" Dani said, giving her best evil villainess cackle. It sounded good in the enclosed space and it made Sam laugh. Dani liked his laugh. She didn't get to hear it often.

Jenny squeezed Dean's head between her thighs. "Onward, good steed!"

Properly motivated, Dean moved forward.

A water battle of epic proportions took place and soon there wasn't a dry area anywhere near the pool. Bobby rolled his eyes and went back out, mentioning groceries and heathen children.

Just as it seemed that the Winchester/Singer versus Winchester/Ichikawara water battle would be a stalemate, Dani saw two men appear in the middle of the pool. That would have been weird enough, but they were fully dressed. One of them was wearing a trench coat.

"Is this some form of baptism?" he asked, glancing around.

"Um, no," Dani said in confusion, as Dean spun around at hearing the new voice.

"I do not understand," he continued. "What is the purpose of a large indoor bath, if you are all dressed?" Then his gaze fell on Jenny. "Most of you, that is."

"He's cute," Jenny said. "Dean, take me to pet him."

"No petting until someone tells me why there's a guy in a trench coat in this pool," Dani said sharply, realizing that her sister was a little high and hoping to hell that one of the Winchesters could explain what was going on. They didn't seem to be able to though.

"I am not a guy," the one in the trench coat said. "I am an angel of the Lord."

"What?" Dani shrieked as Jenny bounced up and down on Dean's shoulders with an excited squeal.

"Put me down," Dani hissed, smacking Sam in the back of the head. "I can't let the angel see me like this!"

"I have already seen you," the angel said as Sam ducked under the water to let Dani off his shoulders.

"Okay, yeah, but...I...don't know what to say!" Dani was, for the first time in her life, actually flabbergasted. Sam, who was wiping water off his face and trying to straighten up his hair, looked just as nervous as she felt. She stepped closer to him, and he caught her hand and held it. He felt just as tense as she was. It was more comforting than it sounded.

"Yeah right, you're an angel," Dean said in disbelief. "Angels aren't real."

"Dean, shut up," Sam said quickly.

"We are real," the other man answered coldly. "We just don't usually bother enlisting the help of mud monkeys to do our work."

Trench coat Angel looked slightly pained at the description.

"So, you want our help?" Dean asked. "And you're calling us mud monkeys? Why don't you shove it up your-"

"Dean!" Dani and Sam chorused, slightly panicked.

Dean turned to look at them. "What? You show up during someone's pool fight, call them a monkey, and then ask for their help? We've got no proof that these jokers are even who they say they are, and even they were, what the hell do they want from us?"

"Obedience," the other man snapped.

"Well, if you told us what you wanted," Sam said, making sure his voice was a study in politeness to contradict Dean's aggressive tone. "I'm sure we'd be glad to help."

"And your names," Dani suggested. "Are you...allowed to do that?" The angels in the Bible had always introduced themselves.

"I am Castiel," the one in the trench coat said. "This is Uriel."

Uriel looked put out by the whole thing. Dani swallowed nervously, tightening her fingers with Sam's under the water.

"And what?" Dean asked. "You've got a mission for us?"

"We know what happened at the Devil's Gate," Uriel said. "What you did."

His gaze fell on Sam, who seemed to sink a little under the weight of it. Dani edged even closer to him, prepared to do what she could on his behalf.

"Then you know it wasn't our fault," Dean said firmly. "And if you were so interested in it, your asses should have been there to stop the whole thing."

"We were...delayed," Castiel said, sounding almost apologetic. "There are many forces to fight through to even assume the mortal vessels necessary to-"

"Vessels?" Sam asked, surprised.

"Yes."

Castiel wasn't one to waste words apparently.

"So you're going to take care of the demons that escaped?" Dani asked hopefully.

Castiel looked pained again.

"Yes," Uriel said. "We know the towns they're in. We are going to destroy those towns and-"

"Whoa," Dean said, getting a killing look from the angel he'd just interrupted. "Destroy the towns? What about the people?"

"The people will be tainted with the demon's powers," Uriel said with a sneer.

"What kind of demons are these?" Dani asked. She'd dealt with one or two in her life and, while they were deadly and destructive, usually an exorcism and some therapy cleared the issues up with no need to annihilate whole towns.

"Are you familiar with the Seven Deadly Sins?" Castiel asked.

Dani blinked. That was an odd question. "Yes."

"They have been set free."

"They're demons?" Sam demanded. "_Actual_ demons?"

"Yes," Uriel bit out. "And it is imperative that they be destroyed."

"Okay, so let's gank 'em," Dean said with a shrug. "All in a day's work for us. Why don't you guys just flutter off back to wherever the hell you came from and let the professionals handle this?"

"He's gonna get us smited," Dani whispered to Sam. Sam tugged her slightly behind him in response and she pressed her face against his arm for a second, appreciating the protective gesture.

"Because _I_ am the professional," Uriel said. It probably would have been more intimidating if he wasn't standing in a pool in a three piece suit, but it got the point across.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Dani asked. She'd never dealt with anything of this caliber before.

"You? Nothing. I don't understand what you're doing here," Castiel admitted, looking from Dani to Jenny, a slight frown furrowing his brow. "Your path is different. The two of you are…unusual."

"What?" Jenny asked, a little annoyed at his tone.

"You shouldn't be here," Castiel said without malice.

"And how would you know that?" Jenny asked.

"I've seen how things happen."

Jenny shrugged insolently. "I'm the kind of girl who makes her own fate. Things don't have to turn out the way you think."

"Don't argue with the angel," Dani said, her voice deceptively pleasant. Jenny rolled her eyes, but she didn't speak again. Thank God for small mercies. "Um, Castiel?"

"Yes?" he asked, turning back to her.

"Can we get out of the pool?"

He snapped his fingers and they were back on dry land.

"Why did you think you needed his permission?" Jenny asked.

"Because I don't want to get smited. Smitten? Whatever." Dani waved her hand. "Hey, we're not even wet! Nice!"

"Don't get excited when a man can't make you wet," Jenny said.

Dani sighed. If Dean wasn't going to be the death of her, Jenny just might be.

"So, what _are_ we supposed to do?" Sam asked.

"The demons that escaped...they are legion."

"Thanks," Dean said. "That's helpful."

"Legion, for they are many?" Jenny suggested.

"Yes," Castiel said seriously. "But, despite our orders, it is your fate to try and send the Seven back to Hell."

"And you know where they are?" Sam asked, glad to finally get down to the heart of the matter. It probably would have been easier without his brother and Dani's sister antagonizing the angels.

"I have some information," Castiel said. "A starting point."

Sam grabbed the notepad off of his nightstand. "Where?"

"Centerville, Utah," Uriel said.

"What about the thing that's happening here?" Dean demanded. "We just leave the Wendigo on the loose?"

Uriel's voice was impatient. "It won't matter if the Seven aren't stopped."

"Let me get this straight. You're saying it's our destiny to try to stop them, but you're not saying that we will stop them?" Dean asked, going over what they'd said.

Neither of the angels answered. Castiel gave Dean a searching look, one that seemed like he was trying to convey something that Dean clearly didn't get, and then both of the angels disappeared.

"Wow. Just...wow," Dani said. Her pulse was still pounding. Angels! Real live angels! Not exactly what she'd expected...but still!

"So, what's in Centerville?" Jenny asked, looking over Sam's shoulder as he began typing quickly.

Bobby walked into the room with a bagful of groceries. "What's going on?"

"The only thing I can see is an increase in marriages," Sam said absently.

"Doesn't sound demon related," Dean said, leaning over Sam's other shoulder.

"What's going on?" Bobby repeated, setting down the groceries with a thump.

"We were visited by an angel!" Dani said excitedly. "We're now on a mission from God!"

"What?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah, it happened while you were out," Dean said, giving Bobby a quick overview of the whole thing.

"I miss every damn thing. Why the hell would the angel wait till I was gone to come around with important information?" Bobby grumbled.

"Aw, I don't think he did it on purpose, Uncle Bobby," Jenny said consolingly.

"Balls," Bobby grumbled. "Anybody hungry? Or are we packing up right now?"

"Castiel said we should hurry," Dani said uncertainly. It really didn't feel right to leave the Wendigo roaming Wyoming. That would have made a hell of a tongue twister, she thought absently.

"And his friend called us mud monkeys," Dean pointed out. "I think we can take a little time, get our shit together. We're in the middle of a job, and I plan to finish it."

"Look, we don't have time to be pissed off about getting pushed around," Sam protested. "They said this was our destiny."

"And you know I don't believe in that shit, Sammy!" Dean barked.

"I'm gonna go smoke," Dani said quickly as the brothers exchanged a look that spoke volumes of irritation.

Sam opened the door for her and then followed her out and down to the Mustang.

"Are you going to lecture me?" Dani asked suspiciously.

"I never lecture. I inform. But I won't," he hurried on when he saw the look on her face.

Dani lit her cigarette and boosted herself up onto the trunk so that she and Sam were eye level. "Good. Because I am flipping out."

"Me too," he admitted. "Angels. Real angels."

"Right? And it's more than that," Dani said. "Although I agree that it's amazing that we were just in a pool with some of the good guys in the Bible. Mostly good anyway," she corrected herself, remembering Lucifer. "That's not the point. I'm a little worried that I'm screwing with your destiny. Trench coat Angel said that I wasn't supposed to be here. Do you think that I was supposed to die that night?"

"No," Sam said firmly. "I think that I got that premonition so that I could save you. I think you're right where you're supposed to be."

Dani took a slow drag and blew the smoke straight up so she didn't get it into Sam's face.

"That makes me feel better," she admitted.

"And also, he said that to you _and_ Jenny, so I don't think that it's a matter of escaping death."

"You're a good person," Dani said, feeling better about the whole thing. As much as she hated the thought that she was supposed to be dead, it was 10 times worse to think that Jenny should be gone. "And I really want to help with this Seven Deadly Sins deal. Are you and Dean going to be cool with that, or do you want me to back up out of your destiny?"

"The more help the better," Sam said quickly. He might not be pursuing the steadily growing crush he had on her, but it didn't mean he was going to let her ride off into the sunset. "Maybe we can play out our destiny while you and Jenny make your own."

Dani smiled. "Maybe."

* * *

"Sure you don't want to come with us?" Dani asked from the doorway. They'd decided to make one more pass around town to try to lure the Wendigo that night. "Not scared to stay here by yourself while there's a wicked Wyoming Wendigo wandering?" She gave herself a metaphorical pat on the back for her four in a row alliteration.

"Nah. You know... I'm on my period and it would just be a hassle..." Jenny held her belly and groaned at a fake cramp.

"Ok then."

Jenny closed the door after watching the others leave.

"Wendigos. Ugh."

Gradually the sky fell darker and the moon rose. "Sheesh, how long are they going to be?" she muttered as she threw her finished novel onto the table and sat up. The sounds of scratching at the door caught her attention. "Dani? Did you lose your key? God, how have you survived this long?" She made her way to the door and swung it open only to try to slam it shut again with a shriek. She was too late.

* * *

"So I'm starting to think that it really was a bear," Dani muttered as they walked up to the room after a completely wasted hunt. "This is just...crap."

The door to their room hung open, half off of its hinges. The rest of the room didn't look too bad, other than the fact that the mattress and table were on the floor. There were several long rips in the carpet and more in the walls, but there wasn't much blood.

Dani hung her head. "I can't believe this. This is the shifter all over again. Why can't I keep track of my sister?"

"I thought she was a pro," Dean said.

"She is!" Dani said, bristling. "She just gets her intel directly, uh, from the source. And this must have been a particularly clever Wendigo. A special breed of wily, wicked, Wyoming Wendigo!"

"You think so?" Dean asked with a smirk.

Dani slugged him on the arm. "Shut up. We've got to find her!"

"Okay, just calm down," Sam said. "Obviously he didn't take her to center of town, so there's something that we've missed. Let's figure out what it is."

Dani sat down on the box spring and put her chin into her hands. Dean started pacing. Sam went to his own room and got his laptop. Bobby pulled out his journal and started paging through it.

Dani closed her eyes, picturing the Wendigo house. There had to be something. Some kind of clue...suddenly her eyes snapped open and she jumped up.

"Come on!" She grabbed Dean by the jacket and plowed out the door, yelling for Sam and Bobby to follow her to the car. They met the night manager on the way down and he cornered Bobby about noise complaints. Bobby grimaced and waved them on while the man started flipping out about the state of the room.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked when she pulled up in front of the house.

"I remembered something," she answered, running up the front steps and pushing the door open. "Look." She shone her flashlight on a map of the local hikes that had been carelessly tacked to the wall.

"So he's developing the instincts," Sam said, tracing a red line that had been scrawled on the map. "Hang on. There was a story about a year ago. A man disappeared on this trail."

"Then that's our trail," Dani said, ripping the map down and heading back to the mustang. "Come on."

A/N: Yeah, Dani has a mind palace. Also, angels!


End file.
